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GIFT  OF 

SEELEY  W.  MUDD 

and 

GEORGE  I.  COCHRAN     MEYER  ELSASSER 

DR.JOHNR.  HAYNES    WILLIAM  L.  HONNOLD 

JAMES  R.  MARTIN         MRS.  JOSEPH  F.  SARTOR! 

to  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

SOUTHERN  BRANCH 


JOHN  FISKE 


mCruiSf^^hl^  ^^^  °"  '^^  '^**  ^^^^  stamped   belo^ 

JAN  ■^Bsy 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 


Los  Angeles 


Form  L  I 

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^Hmerican  0cligiou^  Ucabcr^ 


WILBUR  nSK 


BY 


GEORGE   PRENTICE,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR   IN    WESLETAN    UNIVERSITT 


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BOSTON   AND   NEW    YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   AND   COMPANY 

1890 


O  A 


900 


Copyright,  1889, 
By  GEORGE   PRENTICE. 

All  rights  reserved. 


• «    • 


TAe  Riverxiile  Press,  Cambriri^e,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  0.  Houghton  &  Compiiny. 


6X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

The  Methodist  I>"vasion.  of  New  England      ....      1 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Youth  of  Wilbur  Fisk 13 

CHAPTER  III. 

-,-'  Ecclesiastical  and  Theological IT 

^'  CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Itinerant  Minister 40 

-^  CHAPTER  V. 

IT"*  The  Educator.  —  Weslevan  Academy 64 

CHAPTER  VI 
Theological  Controversies       Ill 

CHAPTER  VIT. 
The  Educator.  —  Wesleyan  University 1.38 

CHAPTER   ^^II 
The  Temperance  Reformer 180 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Slavery 194 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Manifold  Activity    .• 222 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Preacher 232 

CHAPTER   Xn. 
European  Travel 239 

CHAPTER  Xin. 
The  Renewal  and  the  End  of  Labor 252 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Finai,  Lessons 276 


WILBUR  FISK. 


CHAPTEK  I. 

THE  METHODIST   INVASION    OF   NEW   ENGLAND. 

Up  to  the  year  1789  no  minister  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  had  made  more  than  a  brief 
visit  to  New  England  ;  but  at  the  New  York  Con- 
ference convened  that  year  on  May  28th  in  New 
York,  Bishop  Asbury  gratified  a  well-known  long- 
ing of  Jesse  Lee  by  sending  him  to  New  England 
as  a  missionary.  Mr.  Lee  had  a  colleague,  but  he 
was  left  to  undertake  the  mission  alone.  He  be- 
lieved that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had 
a  great  part  to  play,  by  the  overthrow  of  formal 
and  unspiritual  religion  wherever  it  had  become 
rooted  in  pastors  and  churches,  by  assailing  and 
putting  to  shame  Calvinistic  errors  which  were 
alike  dishonorable  to  God  and  ruinous  to  souls, 
and  by  gathering  churches  after  the  model  of  the 
Wesleyan  societies,  with  an  Arminian  theology 
and  a  regenerate  and  sanctified  membership. 

After  three  months  of  untiring  labor,  Mr.  Lee 
organized  a  class  of  three  members,  and  after  three 
months  more  a  class  of  two  members.    On  the  26th 


2  WJLBUR  FISK. 

of  September,  1789,  the  first  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  New  England  was  organized  at  Strat- 
field,  Conn.  In  February,  1790,  Jacob  Brush, 
George  Roberts,  and  Daniel  Smith  were  sent  to 
assist  Mr.  Lee.  Leaving  Mr.  Brush  in  charge  of 
the  circuit  he  had  formed,  Mr.  Lee  and  Mr.  Smith 
laid  out  the  New  Haven  circuit,  extending  as  far 
as  Hartford.  Two  churches  were  built  and  two 
hundi'ed  members  were  gathered  into  the  societies 
within  the  first  sixteen  months  of  Mr.  Lee's  mis- 
sion. This  small  beginning  did  not  dishearten  the 
souls  of  the  wide-wandering  itinerants  themselves, 
nor  mislead  the  keen-sighted  Asbury  as  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  new  work.  Within  the  first  decade 
of  New  England  Methodism,  three  and  a  half  pre- 
siding elders'  districts  were  established,  thirty  cir- 
cuits formed,  forty-one  ministers  were  on  their 
rounds,  while  ninety -five  preachers  in  all  had  taken 
part  in  this  Methodistic  invasion  of  the  Eastern 
States.  Converts  had  been  won  at  the  rate  of  five 
hundred  a  year.  At  the  end  of  the  second  decade, 
the  total  membership  of  the  Methodist  churches  in 
New  England  was  14,488,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
third  decade,  the  year  after  Wilbur  Fisk  joined 
the  New  England  Conference,  the  total  was  21,365. 
How  shall  we  account  for  such  remarkable  suc- 
cess ?  First,  the  men  who  won  it  were  remarkable 
men.  Yet  should  we  print  the  names  of  the 
ninety-five  itinerants  who  were  in  New  England 
within  the  first  decade,  very  few  of  them  would  be 
known  to  the  American  public.      Nay,  many  of 


METHODIST   INVASION   OF  NEW  ENGLAND.        6 

these  names  would  have  an  unfamiliar  sound  to 
New  England  Methodists.  The  reason  is  not  far 
to  seek.  Most  of  them  were  not  New  Englanders 
by  birth,  lived  but  a  few  years  in  the  Eastern 
States,  and  returned  to  their  earlier  residences  to 
spend  the  strength  of  their  manhood  far  away  from 
New  England.  It  is  no  marvel  if  their  names  are 
largely  forgotten  by  the  present  generation.  Were 
the  names  of  a  hundred  average  lawyers,  clergy- 
men, or  physicians,  their  contemporaries  in  the 
Eastern  States,  printed  here,  how  few  of  them 
woidd  call  up  any  distinct  image  or  recollection 
to  the  American  public  !  The  itinerants'  success 
in  New  England  is  itseK  the  resistless  evidence 
of  their  remarkable  qualities.  Dr.  Stevens  has 
sketched  them  in  a  volume  called  "  Memorials  of 
the  Introduction  of  Methodism  into  the  Eastern 
States." 

Bishop  Asbury's  part  in  the  movement  was  that 
of  official  superintendence.  His  unrivaled  ac- 
quaintance with  the  preachers  who  were  to  be  dis- 
patched on  this  mission  enabled  him  to  select  men 
who  woidd  be  sure  to  win  success.  First,  they 
were  men  of  good  personal  appearance,  whose 
dress  was  unique,  whose  manners  were  familiar  and 
accessible,  whose  outdoor  habits  of  life  made  them 
at  ease  with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  The 
fact  that,  like  Henry  Clay,  George  Washington, 
and  Abraham  Lincoln,  they  were  not  coUege- 
bred  but  self-made  men  made  it  easier  for  them 
to  comprehend  and  take  advantage  of  currents  of 


4  WILBUR  FISK. 

feeling  amongst  the  "plain  people,"  whom  only 
such  men  can  fully  comprehend  and  readily  influ- 
ence. 

Then  they  were  men  of  extraordinary  spiritual- 
ity and  devotion,  whose  every-day  life  was  a  denial 
of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  To  forsake 
home  and  kindred  and  all  worldly  ambitions  and 
selfish  modes  of  living,  to  be  always  in  the  saddle, 
always  on  the  march  like  soldiers,  to  go  amongst 
strangers  on  religious  errands  which  would  bring 
them  into  collision  with  the  settled  convictions  of 
all  New  England,  to  be  counted  and  to  be  the  off- 
scouring  of  all  things  for  Christ's  sake,  was  a 
spiritual  discipline  compared  with  which  those  of 
Jesuit  and  Trappist  were  slight  and  ineffectual. 
And  they  did  all  that  on  an  allowance  of  sixty 
dollars  a  year,  subject  to  every  appeal  which  the 
greater  needs  of  some  men  always  make  to  gen- 
erous minds.  And  all  this  was  done,  not  in  a 
spirit  of  submission,  but  of  exidtation  that  they 
were  permitted  to  win  souls  from  sin  to  holiness  at 
any  possible  expense  of  effort  and  self-sacrifice. 
Nobody  could  accuse  them  of  worldly  and  secular 
motives  in  their  ministry  of  love. 

Then  the  intensity  of  their  convictions  gave  a 
dread  or  happy  accent  of  reality  to  all  their  say- 
ings and  doings.  They  believed  in  every  article  of 
a  Christian's  faith  with  all  their  minds  and  hearts. 
Every  motive  that  has  its  roots  in  the  awfulness  of 
sin,  the  brevity,  swiftness,  and  solemnity  of  life, 
tlic  danger  of  delay  in  religious  duties,  the  possi- 


METBODIST  INVASION  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.        5 

bility  of  saving  soiils  from  death  who  might  other- 
wise persist  in  impenitence  and  incur  eternal  per- 
dition, tokl  ^^ith  unabated  energy  upon  their  minds. 
What  cheered  and  comforted  them  was  that  they 
had  a  salvation  to  offer  which  was  adequate  for 
the  relief  of  every  lost  soid  around  them.  Not  one 
of  them  was  there  who  was  not  ready  to  testify 
that  he  had  himseK  received  that  regenerate  life 
which  he  commended  to  others,  by  the  direct  oper- 
ation of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  entire  sanctifica- 
tion  was  a  conscious  possession.  In  spite  of  all  the 
hardships  of  their  lives  and  the  obstacles  their  mis- 
sion encountered,  they  were  the  only  ministers  in 
New  England  who  seemed  fully  to  have  the  apos- 
tolic spirit,  the  apostolic  faith,  and  the  true  fruits 
of  apostleship. 

At  first  they  would  gladly  have  steered  clear  of 
controverted  points,  insisting  merely  on  the  neces- 
sity of  regeneration,  of  a  holy  life,  and  of  saving 
other  men  from  sin  and  death.  But  their  adver- 
saries soon  taught  them  better  by  maintaining  that 
the  only  reason  for  their  reticence  was  the  badness 
of  their  principles.  Hence  they  set  before  the 
people  who  were  gathered  in  their  assemblies  the 
dogmas  of  universal  redemption ;  that  the  call  of 
the  gospel  comes  to  all  men  alike ;  that  all  may  be 
saved  on  the  same  terms ;  that  none  are  eternal 
reprobates  by  God's  decree,  but  only  by  their 
own  avoidable  misdoing ;  that  all  are  so  equally 
free  agents  that  any  one  may  sin  against  any  light 
forever,  when  obedience  to  that  same  Hght  would 


6  WILBUR  FJSK. 

have  saved  him ;  and  that  even  the  holiest  saint 
can  stand  fast  in  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel 
only  by  incessant  watchfulness. 

Then  ensued  a  persistent  effort  to  spread  these 
doctrines  all  over  New  England.     Since  the  invad- 
ino-  party  had  no  newspapers,  no  schools   or  col- 
leges of  their  own,  they  could  not  assail  their  foes 
in  newspapers,  in  the  teacher's  seat,  or  the  pro- 
fessor's chair.     They  were  wandering  evangelists 
who  made  use  of  such  chances  as  came  into  their 
hands  for  doing  their  work.     In  private  conversa- 
tion, in  class-meetings,  in  prayer-meetings,  in  love- 
feasts,  in  quarterly  meetings,  in  the  home   pulpit, 
at   camp-meetings,   and  conferences,  an  incessant 
war  was  kept  up  against  Calvinism.    One  minister 
was  baptizing  a    child    in   church;    he   lifted   up 
the  sweet  face,  smiling  under  the  baptismal  drops, 
for  the  congregation  to  see,   asking,   "  Does  this 
look  like  an  eternal  reprobate?"     When  the  pre- 
siding: elder  came  on  his  rounds,  one  of  his  sermons 
was  pretty  sure  to  aim  at  developing  the  higher 
Christian  character,  and  the  other  to  arraign  the 
mysterious  and  awful  dogmas  of  the  popular  creed. 
At  camp-meetings  one    or  two  sermons  were  de- 
voted to  a  systematic  exposure  of  Calvinistic  errors. 
This  polemic  against  Augustinianism  was  rarely 
metaphysical,  but  kept  to  the  jDlain,  obvious  decla- 
rations of   Scripture.     The  preachers  had  studied 
with  care  all  the  arguments  by  which  their  oppo- 
nents undertook    to  vindicate   the   consistency  of 
their  own  views  with  Scripture,  and  could  and  did 


METHODIST  INVASION   OF  NEW  ENGLAND.        7 

expose  them  with  great  precision.  Jesse  Lee  used 
to  wind  up  some  of  his  detailed  discussions  of 
these  controverted  texts  and  points  with  "  God's 
oath  that  he  was  no  Calvinist."  "  For  I  have  no 
pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth,  saith  the 
Lord  God:  wherefore  turn  yourselves  and  live." 
(Ezek.  xviii.  32.) 

When  Whitefield  met  Wesley's  first  mission- 
aries, Boardman  and  Pilmoor,  in  Philadelphia,  he 
said  to  them,  "If  you  were  only  Calvinists  you 
would  carry  the  country  before  you."  Were 
Whitefield  to  return  to  earth,  what  would  be  his 
surprise  to  find  that  the  Wesleyan  itinerants  had 
carried  the  country  with  them  as  he  never  did  or 
could !  When  Whitefield  came  to  New  England, 
he  found  the  Congregational  churches  secularized 
by  the  effects  of  the  law,  enacted  in  1631  and  re- 
pealed in  1688,  that  only  church  members  should 
vote  or  hold  office.  Under  that  law  the  rule  was 
to  admit  everybody  into  the  church  whose  life 
stopped  short  of  public  scandal.  Ileal  Christians 
soon  became  a  small  minority  in  most  of  the 
churches,  and  lost  the  general  direction  of  the 
church.  A  secidarized  church  membership  soon 
desired  pastors  after  its  own  heart,  and  had 
them,  too.  The  natural  consequence  of  creating  a 
church  membership  without  spirituality  was,  that 
the  doctrine  was  stoutly  maintained  that  piety  was 
not  necessary  in  the  pastors  of  the  church.  Wick- 
edness in  the  pews  did  not  care  to  put  holiness  into 
the  pulpit. 


8  WILBUR  FISK. 

This  condition  of  things  resulted  naturally  in 
the  adoption  of  the  Halfway  Covenant.  The  in- 
tent of  this  measure  was  to  treat  common  morality 
in  parents  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy  or 
afterwards,  but  were  not  members  of  the  church, 
as  though  they  were  Christians,  and  to  give  their 
children  baptism  on  condition  of  a  pledge  to  train 
them  in  the  moralities  rather  than  the  spiritualities 
of  the  gospel.  Thus  baptism  opened  the  way  to 
office  and  honor.  So  rapid  was  this  ill-omened 
change  that  on  his  first  visit  to  New  England, 
Whitefield  found  himself  compelled  stoutly  to  de- 
mand the  signs  of  regenerate  life  in  his  own  con- 
verts. He  also  denounced  the  practice  of  admit- 
ting imspiritual  persons  to  the  sacraments  or  to 
the  ministry.  Yet  so  general  was  this  habit  that 
more  than  twenty  ministers  near  Boston,  who  were 
converted  through  Whitefield's  faithful  rebukes, 
had  become  ministers  without  conversion.  It  was 
devotion  to  the  Halfway  Covenant  which  silenced 
Edwards,  and  embittered  Whitefield's  later  visit 
to  New  England.  Kevivals  ceased.  Many  con- 
gregations of  unbelievers  had  unconverted  pastors. 
The  result  did  not  fail  to  justify  the  wisdom  of 
the  divine  saying,  "If  the  blind  lead  the  blind, 
they  shaU  both  fall  into  the  ditch."  Yet  not 
a  few  "kept  their  garments  unspotted  from  the 
world." 

For  fifty  years  there  had  been  no  great  religious 
revival.  The  Revolutionary  War  had  largely 
demoralized   public   morals,  and   popularized  the 


METHODIST  INVASION   OF  NEW  ENGLAND.        9 

Frencli  and  the  Tom  Paine  styles  of  infidelity. 
There  was  no  sign  of  a  revival  in  the  churches. 

But  suddenly,  two  by  two,  Asbury's  itinerant 
evangelists  begin  to  traverse  New  England.  They 
preach  in  town-houses,  churches,  school-houses,  in 
orchards,  on  commons.  They  act  as  their  own 
sextons,  ring  the  bell,  light  the  candles  and  fires. 
They  preach  three  or  four  times  on  Sundays,  and 
once  or  twice  every  week-day.  Here  and  there 
they  find  little  knots  of  prayerful  and  expectant 
souls,  whom  they  form  into  classes  and  speedily 
gather  into  churches.  They  accept  no  halfway 
covenants,  tolerate  no  unconverted  members  in 
their  societies :  they  build  up  churches  rich  in 
every  Chiistian  virtue.  For  some  reason  the 
movement  does  not,  any  move  than  St.  Paul's  re- 
vival, lay  hold  of  "  many  noble  "  or  "  many  wise  ;  " 
yet,  hke  his,  it  made  many  noble  and  many  wise. 

They  made  great  use  of  the  Wesleyan  hymns 
in  the  effort  to  diffuse  their  theology  amongst  the 
masses.  Nearly  all  of  them  were  good  singers, 
and  knew  how  to  catch  and  hold  the  public  ear  by 
their  songs.  These  hymns  themselves  embody  the 
system  of  thought,  the  burning  emotions  of  one  of 
the  greatest  religious  revivals  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  They  were  sung  at  public  worship,  in 
prayer-meetings,  class-meetings,  love-feasts,  camp- 
meetings,  and  in  the  home  churches,  all  over  New 
England.  It  is  ten  times  as  easy  to  learn  and 
repeat  a  hymn  as  a  sermon.  Then  the  new  hymns 
were  set  to  music,  which  lingered  on  the  ear  in 


10  WILBUR  FISK. 

such  a  way  as  to  tempt  their  frequent  repetition. 
There  is  no  telling  how  far  a  single  hymn  may 
fly ;  and  when  a  whole  mass  of  such  winged  mes- 
sengers are  at  the  command   and  on  the  tongues' 
end   of   multitudes,   they   become    a   very   potent 
evangelizing  force,  not  only  in  the  transformation 
of  individual  character,  but  also  of  public  opinion. 
Charles  Wesley's  hymns  have  had  quite  as  much 
to  do  with  the  popularizing  of  the  Wesleyan  doc- 
trines   as  John  Wesley's   sermons.      One  has  no 
difficulty  in  seeing  how  such  doctrines,  proclaimed 
in    such  a  spirit  and  by  such   men,  should  have 
made   a  great  impression  on  the  public  mind  in 
New  England.      Puritanism  had   lost  out  of   its 
doctrine,  out  of  its  pulpit,  out  of  its  religious  life, 
that  joyous  element  which  Christianity  always  had 
on  the  lips  of  Jesus  and  of  Paul,  since  it  is  good 
tidings  of  great  joy  for  all  people,  and  especially 
to   men   of   goodwill.      This    spontaneous   joy  in 
God  and  his  salvation,  the  joy  of  forgiveness  and 
the  raptures  of  holiness  of  heart,  were  instantly 
felt  to  be  the  restoration  of  something  that  was  a 
real  part  of  the  gospel.     Hence,  in  spite  of  all  the 
social  disadvantages  under  which  Methodism  was 
propagated  in  New  England,  it  carried  into  the 
public  feeling  and  consciousness  the  clear  percep- 
tion that  to  be,  and  to  be  sure  that  one  was,  a 
child  of  God  was  such  a  change  in  spiritual  con- 
dition as  ought  to  give  birth  to  a  deep  and  per- 
manent  religious   exhilaration.       The    early  New 
England  Methodists    carried  this    atmosphere    of 


METHODIST  INVASION  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.      11 

religious  exliilaration  with  them  everywhere.  This 
made  their  private  intercourse  serenely  happy,  and 
their  public  worship  electric  with  spiritual  life  and 
love. 

Before  this  movement  had  been  fifteen  years  in 
New  England,  it  had  reached  the  Fisk  household. 
The  mother  of  Wilbur,  descendant  of  a  Puritan 
minister  though  she  was,  had  somewhere  listened 
to  the  preaching  of  the  Methodist  preachers,  and 
she  gave  ear  to  their  word  as  the  very  word  of 
God.  She  invited  the  itinerants  to  her  house, 
joined  a  religious  class,  became  a  member  of  the 
church,  and  presently  had  the  happiness  of  seeing 
all  her  family  members  of  the  same  body.  She 
effected  this  change  in  the  religious  relations  of 
the  household  because  the  docti-ines  and  life  of  the 
new  church  seemed  to  her  more  scriptural,  more 
reasonable,  and  more  helpful  than  those  of  the 
church  to  which  her  family  had  been  devoted  for 
eioht  srenerations. 

In  this  way  Methodism  gave  substance  and  shape 
to  Wilbur  Fisk's  first  serious  religious  development. 
It  is  wonderful  to  reflect  how  largely  this  stripling 
was  destined  to  give  it  a  new  and  higher  direction. 
If  there  was  any  one  point  where  the  leadership  of 
Asbury,  Lee,  and  men  of  their  stamp  was  at  fault, 
it  was  in  their  failure  to  appreciate  the  immense 
and  indispensable  importance  of  having  educa- 
tional institutions  under  their  patronage  and  con- 
trol. Had  Wesley  led  the  American  Methodist 
societies,  instead  of   Asbury  and  Coke,  he  would 


12  WILBUR  FISK. 

never  have  submitted  to  defeat  at  Cokesbury  on 
the  collegiate  education  question.  The  very  fact 
that  they  had  lost  150,000  by  the  successive  con- 
flagrations which  visited  the  institution  (nearly 
half  as  much  as  Wesleyan  University  was  worth 
in  Wilbur  Fisk's  day)  is  a  striking  evidence  of 
the  depth  and  sincerity  of  the  interest  of  early 
Methodists  in  educational  work.  One  of  the 
questions  most  often  put  to  Lee  and  his  associates 
was,  whether  they  were  college-bred  men.  Nor 
did  Lee  quite  realize  how  insufficient  was  his  usual 
answer,  "that  he  made  no  great  pretension,  yet 
thought  he  knew  enough  to  get  through  the 
country." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   YOUTH   OF  WILBUR   FISK. 

Wilbur  Fisk  was  born  at  Brattleborough,  Vt, 
August  31,  1792.  He  was  the  son  of  Isaiah  and 
Hannah  Fisk,  and  was  descended  on  both  sides 
from  ancestors  who  were  amongst  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Massachusetts. 

The  family  life  was  of  the  sort  so  felicitously 
described  by  Dr.  Bushnell  in  "  The  Age  of  Home- 
spun." It  was  a  life  in  which  the  farm  and  the 
shop  and  the  church  had  far  more  to  do  with  the 
training  of  the  people  than  school  and  college.  So 
true  was  this  of  young  Fisk  that  until  his  sixteenth 
year  he  had  not  been  to  school  more  than  two  or 
three  years.  Then  he  attended  a  sort  of  acad- 
emy at  Peacham.  Not  much  is  known  about  the 
school,  but  the  ambitious  Fisk  carried  his  studies 
so  far  there  that  he  was  admitted  on  examination 
to  the  sophomore  class  in  the  University  of  Ver-  j 
mont,  in  July,  1812.  He  continued  a  student  at 
Burlington  until  the  suspension  of  the  work  of  the 
university  in  consequence  of  the  buildings  being 
turned  over  to  General  Macomb  for  the  use  of  the 
American  army.  We  know  that  the  course  of 
study  was  not  very  different  from  that  at  Union 


14  WILBUR   FISK. 

and  Dartmouth  in  those  days.  The  course  of  study 
may  still  be  seen,  and  Fisk's  certificate  of  admis- 
sion shows  the  president's  name.  In  Fisk's  letters 
to  his  friends,  the  names  of  a  few  student  friends 
are  given  ;  and  a  few  compositions,  orations,  and  a 
poem,  called  "  Vermont,"  may  be  seen  by  the  curi- 
ous. But  the  letters  do  not  show  what  his  associ- 
ates and  superiors  thought  of  him,  or  what  kind 
of  impression  his  educators  made  upon  him.  Of 
them  there  is  neither  criticism  nor  laudation. 

In  the  spring  term  of  1814,  Mr.  Fisk  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  junior  class  of  Brown  University. 
Of  this  institution  the  Rev.  Asa  Messer,  D.  D., 
was  then  the  president,  with  four  professors  and 
two  tutors  to  assist  him  in  the  work  of  instruc- 
tion. There  Mr.  Fisk  would  naturally  have  to  do 
only  with  the  president  and  professors.  Here, 
again,  we  hear  no  criticism  on  his  new  instructors 
or  the  course  of  study,  no  comparisons  with  any- 
thing at  the  University  of  Vermont,  no  hint  of 
the  personal  impressions  made  upon  him  by  any 
instructor.  Nor  is  there  any  trace  of  any  impres- 
sion he  made  on  his  instructors.  One  of  his  class- 
mates ranks  him  as  their  best  scholar.  One  might 
excel  him  in  the  mathematics,  another  in  the 
classics,  but  none  in  helles  lettres  or  in  general 
scholarship.  He  won  a  high  reputation  for  skill 
in  debate  at  the  jjreparatory  school  and  in  both 
universities.  He  won  friends  everywhere,  whose 
friendship  was  of  the  warmest  and  most  enduring 
character.     The  appointments  assigned   Fisk   for 


THE    YOUTH    OF  WILBUR  FISK.  15 

public  exercises  show  a  high  opinion  of  his  abili- 
ties. In  both  universities  he  was  chosen  by  the 
under-graduates  to  speak  before  the  college  of  the 
death  of  one  of  their  number.  He  read  much  of 
the  best  English  literature  while  an  under-grad- 
uate.  He  took  special  pains  with  his  elocution,  and 
in  Providence  he  managed  to  hear  the  leaders  of 
the  Rhode  Island  bar  whenever  possible.  Though 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  he 
was  not  knoAvn  in  school  or  college  as  a  religious  "^ 
man.     He  was  graduated  in  the  summer  of  1815. 

Soon  after  his  return  home,  he  began  to  study  w' 
law  in  the  office  of  Isaac  Fletcher,  of  Lyndon.  But 
he  had  not  been  long  about  it  before  he  saw  that 
the  legal  profession  woidd  be  fatal  to  his  religious 
character.  Hence  he  resolved  to  study  for  the 
ministry,  and  wrote  to  liis  classmate,  the  Rev. 
George  Taft,  upon  the  whole  subject.  Meanwhile 
he  had  become  private  tutor  in  a  family  near  Bal- 
timore. But  his  residence  there  was  suddenly  ter- 
minated by  such  severe  hemorrhages  of  the  lungs 
that  his  physician  told  him  he  must  not  hope  to  use 
his  voice  much  in  his  professional  labors.  He  had 
more  than  once  suffered  in  this  way  at  Burlington 
and  at  Providence.  On  reaching  home  in  June,  \ 
1817,  he  found  Lyndon  the  scene  of  a  profound  ^ 
religious  revival.  Here  his  earlier  religiou>.^t55ii- 
victions  resimied  their  sway  so  fidly  that,  before  he 
had  any  chance  to  confess  his  backslidings,  he  had 
recovered  the  favor  of  God,  and  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit   to  his    sonship.     Instantly  he  resolved  to 


y. 


16  WILBUR  FI8K. 

become  a  minister.  His  classmate,  David  Gould, 
corresponded  with  him  on  the  points  in  debate  be- 
tween Calvinism  and  Arminianism,  after  a  distinct 
avowal  o£  Fisk's  purpose  to  preach  Calvinism  in 
case  he  was  convinced  of  the  truth  of  that  system. 
These  letters  would  show  us  whether  Fisk's  repudi- 
ation of  Calvinism,  that  was  the  motive  which  kept 
him  out  of  the  Congregational  Church,  also  barred 
him  out  of  the  service  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
Some  things  would  have  led  him  with  gentle  force 
to  that  church.  The  lady  to  whom  he  was  engaged 
was  an  Episcopalian.  His  classmate,  Taft,  set  be- 
fore him  such  motives  as  he  thought  would  influ- 
ence Fisk's  mind.  Another  classmate  repeated 
Taft's  arguments,  and  denounced  with  rude  energy 
the  faults  and  errors  of  the  Methodist  Church.  It 
is  probable  that  the  main  reason  which  kept  Mr. 
Fisk  from  entering  the  Episcopal  ministry  was  its 
toleration  of  Calvinistic  dogmas,  though  he  may 
have  been  influenced  further  by  his  keen  sympathy 
with  the  intense  religious  activity  of  the  Methodist 
Church. 

March  14,  1818,  Wilbur  Fisk  was  licensed  a 
local  preacher  at  Lyndon,  Vt.  He  joined  the 
New  England  Conference  on  probation  in  June, 
1818. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ECCLESIASTICAL   AND  THEOLOGICAL. 

Should  Wilbur  Fisk  revisit  the  glimpses  of  the 
moon  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  church 
of  his  choice  in  New  England,  instead  of  the 
21,365  church  members  then  served  by  122  minis- 
ters reported  in  1819,  he  would  now  (1888)  find 
155,413  members  served  by  1,250  ministers.  He 
would  find  the  territory  occupied  by  the  confer- 
ence he  joined  partitioned  into  six  annual  confer- 
ences, the  least  of  which  is  larger  than  the  body 
he  joined,  while  the  conference  with  the  old  name 
is  almost  thrice  as  large  as  the  one  he  entered. 
Shoidd  he  ask  after  Vermont  Methodism,  —  a  very 
natural  question  for  him,  —  he  would  learn  that  the 
state  now  numbers  more  Methodists  than  his  old 
conference  had  in  1819.  Should  he  ask  after  the 
present  rate  of  growth,  he  would  hear  that  more  new 
members  had  joined  the  church  within  the  bounds 
of  the  old  New  England  Conference  last  year  than 
it  had,  all  told,  the  day  he  joined  it,  Shoidd  he  de- 
mand —  another  very  natural  question  for  him  — 
what  the  church  is  doing  in  the  educational  work 
that  was  so  dear  to  his  heart  when  on  earth,  he 
would  be  informed  that  there  were  eight  semina- 


18  WILBUR  FISK. 

ries  under  the  patronage  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  the  poorest  of  which  was  richer,  and 
better  equipped  with  buildings,  teachers,  libraries, 
and  scientific  apparatus,  than  Wesleyan  Academy 
ever  was  in  his  time,  and  the  richest  of  them  far 
stronger  in  all  these  particulars  than  Wesleyan 
University  ever  was  when  under  his  care  ;  that 
Wesleyan  University  had  in  real  estate,  buildings, 
and  other  college  property,  with  its  invested  funds, 
$1,270,000  ;  that  a  new  Methodist  University  had 
sprung  up  at  Boston,  with  a  property  valued  at 
$1,252,580,  having,  besides  the  college  work,  flour- 
ishing law,  medical,  and  theological  schools,  with 
120  instructors  of  all  grades  and  775  students. 

Such  is  the  change  which  has  come  to  pass  in  the 
standing  and  work  of  New  England  Methodism  in 
less  than  seventy  years.  It  used  to  be  held  by  all 
the  theological  and  ecclesiastical  critics  of  Meth- 
odism, that  the  Eastern  States  would  prove  inacces- 
sible to  Wesleyan  ideas,  and  unsuited  to  Methodis- 
tic  methods.  On  the  surface  of  things,  there  was 
much  to  jvistify  the  notion.  The  itinerant  system 
was  in  complete  antagonism  to  the  pastoral  ideals 
cherished  there  by  all  ecclesiastical  parties.  The 
Baptist,  Congregationalist,  Catholic,  and  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  churches  had  many  points  of  mu- 
tual jar  and  conflict ;  but  they  had  one  point  of 
agreement,  their  common  rejection  of  the  itinerant 
system  as  unsuited  to  New  England.  They  prob- 
ably still  cling  to  their  old  ideas  on  this  point, 
though  with  less  confidence  since  the  judgment  of 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND   THEOLOGICAL.  19 

events  has  gone  so  strongly  against  them.  If  there 
still  are  many  in  the  Eastern  States  who  deem  the 
itinerant  system  a  soui-ce  of  strength,  they  are 
probably  chiefly  Methodists.  The  idea  is  held  by 
some  that  the  growth  of  Methodism  has  been  largely 
due  to  weariness  of  Congregationalist  forms  of 
church  government  and  life.  There  may  be  such  a 
weariness  in  the  ecclesiastical  temper  of  New  Eng- 
land ;  but  if  this  has  really  operated  to  any  gTeat 
extent,  it  has  helped  the  Protestant  Episcopal  rather 
than  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Methodist 
ministers  become  Congregationalists,  Baptists, 
Churchmen,  or,  like  the  two  Colliers,  Unitarians. 
Ilarely  do  clergymen  from  other  churches  seek  a 
place  in  our  conferences  on  account  of  our  church 
government.  The  reason  of  this  is,  doubtless,  that 
we  have  no  faith  at  all  in  the  dogma  of  apostol- 
ical succession,  and  all  its  kindred  ideas  and  prac- 
tices. Hence  the  ecclesiastical  unrest  of  the  New 
England  mind  never  turns  its  victims  to  a  church 
which  drew  its  apostolical  succession  from  John 
Wesley  and  Thomas  Coke. 

But  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  notwith- 
standing all  the  advantages  which  have  accrued  to 
it,  from  its  episcopal  form  of  government,  from  its 
more  aesthetic  and  liturgical  forms  of  worship,  and 
from  its  welcoming  with  impartial  warmth  Calvin- 
ists  and  Arminians  to  its  fold,  has  failed  to  make 
anything  like  such  an  advance  as  the  younger 
church  has  secured.  Though  organized  and  at 
work  in  New  England  far  earlier  than  the  younger 


20  WILBUR  FISK. 

denomination,  she  counts  here  only  61,314  church 
members,  served  by  522  clergy;  while  the  Meth- 
odist conferences,  as  we  have  just  seen,  number 
155,413  church  members,  served  by  1,250  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel.  Certain  extravagant  reasoners 
affirm  that  the  Methodist  body  has  outstripped  her 
competitors  because  they  have  always  found  some 
of  their  most  efficient  preachers  in  men  who  have 
never  seen  a  college  or  a  theological  seminary. 
Such  visionaries  quite  forget  that  the  more  fully 
educated  a  man  is,  the  warmer  is  his  welcome  in 
our  conferences,  while  well-educated  ministers  suc- 
ceed at  a  far  nobler  rate  than  any  of  their  less  in- 
structed predecessors ;  and,  finally,  that  the  Eastern 
States  are  the  most  unlikely  places  in  the  world  for 
uneducated  ministers  to  succeed  in.  The  main 
cause  of  our  success  has  not  been  in  our  peculiar 
organization,  or  in  our  itinerant  ministry,  or  in  our 
imperfectly  educated  clergy,  but  is  mainly  found 
in  the  theological  doctrines  we  have  proclaimed. 
While  this  is  no  place  for  any  careful  and  detailed 
exhibition  of  all  the  elements  of  the  Arminian 
creed,  and  especially  of  its  points  of  agreement  and 
of  collision  with  Calvinistic  dogmas,  a  brief  sketch 
will  be  necessary  in  order  to  render  Wilbur  Fisk's 
career  intelligible. 

His  mother  had  somewhere  listened  to  the 
preaching  of  the  early  Methodist  preachers  in  her 
adopted  state,  and  had  been  drawn  to  their  doc- 
tx'ines  in  preference  to  the  Calvinistic  ones  she 
had  been  wont  to  hear.     To  her  it  seemed  like  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND   THEOLOGICAL.  21 

dawning:  on  her  mind  of  a  new  and  better  doctri- 
nal  system.  She  was  prompt  to  invite  these  new 
preachers  to  her  home  in  Lyndon.  In  the  original 
Methodist  class  of  Lyndon  her  name  found  a  place, 
and  that  class  was  the  root  out  of  which  grew,  all 
in  good  time,  the  Methodist  society  of  the  town. 
Her  home  was  often  the  home  of  the  itinerant 
preacher  on  his  rounds  through  his  circiut,  and  so 
it  had  grown  to  be  the  head  centre  of  Methodist 
influence  and  activities.  It  is  said  expressly  that 
this  descendant  of  a  Puritan  minister  made  this 
change  in  the  religious  relations  of  the  family  be- 
cause she  thought  this  system  a  more  rational  and 
more  scriptural  theology  than  tlie  Calvinism  she 
had  been  bred  in.  Through  all  the  joyful  begin- 
nings of  his  early  Christian  life,  through  his  long 
seasons  of  backsliding  at  school  and  college,  her 
prayers  had  pursued  her  son  as  fervently  and  as 
unwaveringly  as  the  prayers  of  St.  Monica  had 
gone  up,  centuries  earlier,  for  her  gifted  son,  Au- 
gustine ;  for  she  seems  to  have  had  an  almost 
prophetic  foresight  of  the  future  usefulness  and 
greatness  of  her  Wilbur.  She  once  told  her  son's 
widow  :  "  All  tlu'ough  the  period  when  my  son 
was  planning  to  become  a  great  lawyer,  and  study- 
ing to  render  himself  a  great  statesman,  my  fer- 
vent petitions  went  up  incessantly  that  God  would 
make  him  a  herald  of  the  cross,  and  God  heard 
and  answered  my  prayers."  Hence  her  memory 
should  be  sacred  to  all  who  honor  the  work  of  her 
son. 


22  WILBUR  FISK. 

But  we  are  confronted  by  the  statement  of  a 
brilliant  essayist  that  the  Methodist  system,  from 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  cannot  be  a  good  one. 
Matthew  Arnold,  who  always  had  the  courage  of 
his  opinions,  and  whose  courage  was  sometimes 
stoutest  just  where  his  ignorance  was  greatest, 
holds  the  Dissenters  of  England  in  profound  con- 
tempt because  in  religion  they  are  tyj^ical  British 
Philistines ;  and  he  regards  the  Methodist  vari- 
ety as  the  most  discouraging  species  of  the  reli- 
gious Philistines.  In  "  A  Word  about  America  " 
he  says  :  — 

"  In  that  universally  religious  countiy,  the  religious 
denomination  which  has  by  much  the  largest  number  of 
adherents  is  that,  I  believe,  of  Methodism,  originating 
in  John  Wesley,  and  which  we  know  in  this  country  as 
having  for  its  standard  of  doctrine  Mr.  Wesley's  fifty- 
three  semions  and  notes  on  the  New  Testament.  I  have 
a  sincere  admiration  for  Wesley,  and  a  sincere  esteem  for 
the  Wesleyan  Methodist  body  in  this  country,  for  I  hav^e 
seen  much  of  it,  and  for  many  of  its  members  my  esteem 
is  not  only  sincere  but  also  affectionate.  I  know  how 
one's  religious  connections  and  religious  attachments  are 
determined  by  the  circumstances  of  one's  birth  and 
bringing  up  ;  and  probably,  if  I  had  been  brought  up 
among  the  Wesleyans,  I  should  never  have  left  their 
body.  But  certainly  I  should  have  wished  my  children 
to  leave  it ;  because  to  live  with  one's  mind,  in  regard 
to  a  thing  of  absorbing  importance,  as  Wesleyans  believe 
religion  to  be,  —  to  live  with  one's  mind,  as  to  a  matter 
of  this  sort,  fixed  upon  a  mind  of  the  third  order,  such 
as  was  Mr.  Wesley's,  seems  to  me  extremely  trying  and 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND   THEOLOGICAL.  23 

injurious  for  the  minds  of  men  in  general.  And  people 
whose  minds,  in  what  is  the  chief  concern  of  their  lives, 
are  thus  constantly  fixed  upon  a  mind  of  the  third  order, 
are  the  staple  of  the  population  of  the  United  States,  in 
the  small  towns  and  country  districts  ahove  all." 

If  Mr.  Arnold  had  suffered  his  "  affectionate 
respect "  for  his  clerical  Wesley  an  Methodist 
acquaintances  so  far  to  overcome  his  inborn  and 
inbred  contempt  for  all  forms  of  English  dissent 
as  to  have  asked  for  the  theological  manual  from 
which  they  had  learned  their  systematic  theology, 
he  would  have  had  the  "  Theological  Institutes  "  of 
Richard  Watson  put  into  his  hands,  of  which  so 
competent  and  impartial  a  judge  as  Professor  J. 
W.  Alexander,  of  Princeton  College,  says  :  "  Tur- 
retine  is,  in  theology,  instar  omnium  ;  that  is,  so 
far  as  Blackstone  is  in  law.  Making  due  allow- 
ance for  the  difference  of  age,  Watson,  the  Meth- 
odist, is  the  only  systematizer  within  my  know- 
ledge who  approaches  the  same  eminence  ;  of  whom 
I  use  Addison's  words :  '  He  reasons  like  Paley 
and  descants  like  Hall.'  " 

Not  only  would  he  have  found  this  account  of 
Watson  fuUy  justified,  but  he  w^ould  have  learned 
that  Wesley's  pet  ideas  about  assurance,  the  witness 
of  the  Spirit,  and  Cliristian  perfection  occupy  a 
very  subordinate,  though  not  unimportant,  place 
in  the  work.  Mr.  Arnold's  idea  that  Wesley  an 
boys  and  girls  are  brought  up  on  Wesley's  sermons 
and  notes  on  the  New  Testament,  that  they  repeat 
them  as  other  boys  repeat  hymns  and  catechisms, 


24  WILBUR  FISK. 

and  that  the  more  of  Wesley  a  boy's  retentive 
memory  enables  him  to  cram,  the  surer  he  will  be 
to  win  the  approval  of  good  Methodists,  is  as  ab- 
surd as  any  other  grotesque  fiction.  It  may  hoax 
ignorant  Churchmen  like  himself,  in  England  or 
America ;  but  it  will  move  no  intelligent  Metho- 
dist to  return  to  the  Church  of  England,  lest  his 
sons  and  daughters  should  find  "  sweetness  and 
light  "  impossible  achievements.  It  has  been  said 
of  the  English  Church  that  it  possesses  Calvinis- 
tic  articles,  an  Arminian  clergy,  and  a  Romanist 
liturgy.  Yet  Mr.  Arnold  is  never  tired  of  repeat- 
ing that  the  one  infallible  panacea  for  curing  all 
the  religious  Philistines  who  are  known  as  Wesley- 
ans.  Baptists,  Independents,  and  Congregational- 
ists,  (including  even  Mr.  Miall  and  Mr.  Winter- 
botham)  is  to  go  back  to  the  Church  of  England. 
If  we  are  to  believe  him  there  is  for  them  salva- 
tion in  no  other  course  ;  and,  indeed,  in  the  sense 
of  Jesus  and  of  Paul,  they  are  plain  schismatics  as 
things  now  stand.  Are  there  any  good  reasons  for 
supposing,  as  the  Episcopal  House  of  Bishops  evi- 
dently thinks,  that  there  are  ministers  who  have 
a  right  to  address  to  us  the  same  arguments,  and 
remonstrances,  and  denunciations  that  Mr.  Arnold 
flings  at  the  Philistine  hordes  of  English  Dissent- 
ers ?  To  an  Episcopal  clergj^man  who  once  urged 
upon  me  the  propriety  of  putting  an  end  to  our 
anomalous  condition  by  joining  the  Episcopal 
Church  (he  could  not  say  "  returning  to,"  as  Mr. 
Arnold  does,  for  we  never  belonged  to  them),  I 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AND   THEOLOGICAL.  25 

made  this  candid  response :  There  are  two  ways  in 
which  Methodist  clergymen  and  laymen  may  join 
the  Protestant  Episcojjal  Church.  One  is,  by  con- 
vincing individuals  of  the  justice  of  the  claims  of 
the  "  Historic  Episcopate."  This  is  done  some- 
times, and  then  they  go  over  to  the  Episcopal 
Church,  as  two  of  my  old  friends,  the  Rev.  B.  F. 
De  Costa,  D.  D.,  of  New  York,  and  the  Rev.  J.  E. 
Heald,  of  the  diocese  of  Connecticut,  have  done. 
We  wish  them  Godspeed  in  their  new  fields  of 
labor.  How  fast  this  process  is  going  forward, 
they  probably  know  better  than  we,  but  it  makes 
little  difference  with  us. 

The  other  way  would  be  to  have  the  two  churches 
united  under  some  such  plan  of  union  as  Tillotson's 
Proposals  of  Comprehension  drawn  up  in  1689. 
In  case  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  should 
ever  feel  the  same  longing  after  union  which  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  shows,  they  might  ac- 
cept two  of  these  proposals,  modified  as  follows  :  — 

1.  "That  for  the  futiire  those  who  have  been 
ordained  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  be  not 
required  to  be  reordained  to  render  them  capable 
of  preferment  in  the  Church. 

2.  That  for  the  future  none  be  capable  of  eccle- 
siastical preferment  in  the  Church  of  America  that 
shall  be  ordained  in  America  otherwise  than  by 
bishops ;  and  that  those  who  have  been  ordained 
only  by  presbyters,  or  bishops  deriving  their  ordi- 
nation from  presbyters  only,  shall  not  be  compelled 
to  renounce  their  former  ordination.     But  because 


26  WILBUR  FISK. 

many  have  and  still  do  doubt  the  validity  of  such 
ordination,  where  episcopal  ordination  may  be  had, 
it  shall  be  sufficient  for  such  persons  to  receive 
ordination  from  a  bishop  in  this  or  the  like  form : 
'  If  thou  art  not  ordained,  I  ordain  thee,'  "  etc. 

There  would  have  to  be  the  like  provision  that 
bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  should 
not  be  required  to  renounce  their  former  ordina- 
tion, and  the  like  contingent  ordination  to  remove 
the  scruples  of  any  who  question  the  value  of 
the  prior  ordination.  Some  such  general  plan  as 
this  might  be  taken  up  in  case  the  desire  of  union 
with  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  should 
ever  become  general  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Of  this  there  are  no  present  signs.  But 
suppose  such  a  union  effected,  the  next  day  the 
"  Protestant  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  "  would 
have  five  members  and  five  ministers  with  Meth- 
odist training,  views,  modes  of  worship,  methods 
of  special  activity  (like  love -feasts,  class  -  meet- 
ings, revival  services,  and  camp-meetings),  which 
must  suddenly  become  church  institutions.  Do 
our  Protestant  Episcopal  friends  desire  such  a 
revolution  ?  It  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  at  the 
doors  ;  but  I  am  not  a  prophet,  nor  the  son  of 
a  prophet,  that  I  should  prophesy.  Hence  the 
chances  are  that  we  shall  have  to  go  on  mere 
Methodists,  notwithstanding  that  still  leaves  us 
under  the  control,  in  the  profound  matter  of 
theology,  "  of  a  mind  of  the  third  order,"  trusting 
that  Wesley's  great  distinctive  gift,  "his  genius 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND    THEOLOGICAL.  27 

for  practical  godliness,"  may  somehow  make   us 
amends. 

But  it  is  time  to  say  that  Mr.  Arnold  makes  a 
profound  and  disgraceful  mistake  in  assuming  that 
Mr.  Wesley  has  put  into  the  creed  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  his  pet  notions  about  as- 
surance, the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  instantaneous 
conversion,  and  instantaneous  and  complete  sanc- 
tification,  and  the  possibility  of  losing  grace.  He 
trusted  all  his  peculiar  views,  which  he  always 
affirmed  to  be  the  teaching  of  the  English  Church 
itself,  to  their  own  intrinsic  reasonableness  and 
scripturalness  ;  yet  this  confidence  has  always  been 
justified  by  results.     Doctor  Stevens  says:  — 

"  Wesley  provided  the  theology  of  American  Method- 
ism in  a  symbol  called  the  '  Articles  of  Religion,'  and 
these  articles  were  taken  from  the  '  Thirty-nine  Articles  ' 
of  the  Anglican  Church.  They  are  abridged  and  some- 
times slightly  amended,  but  they  convey  no  tenet  which 
is  not  received  by  the  Church  of  England,  and  they  are 
the  only  officially  recognized  standard  of  Methodist  doc- 
trine in  America.  Wesley's  emendations  chiefly  guard 
them  against  interpretations  favorable  to  sacramental 
regeneration  and  other  Romish  errors.  He  eliminated 
the  supposed  Anglican  Calvinism,  but  he  does  not  intro- 
duce his  own  Arminianism,  except  in  the  thirty  -  first 
Anglican  article  on  the  Oblation  of  Christ,  which  is 
Arminian  as  to  the  extent  of  tho  atonement."  ^ 

Mr.  Arnold  makes  much  of  the  obstinacy  where- 
with the  English  bishops  struggled  to  keep  Cal- 
^  Stevens,  Centenary  of  American  Methodism. 


28  WILBUR  FfSK. 

vinism  out  of  the  formularies  of  the  Anglican 
Church.  Had  they  been  able  to  keep  it  out  alto- 
gether, that  would  have  been  a  more  illustrious 
achievement,  and  Mr.  Arnold  evidently  regrets 
that  they  did  not  succeed  in  the  effort.  From  the 
creed  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  Wes- 
ley's hand  struck  out  Calvinism  root  and  branch. 
No  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  is  forbidden 
to  hold  the  Calvinistic  dogmas,  but  he  must  not 
disturb  the  church  by  disseminating  them.  No 
preacher  can  find  room  in  Methodist  conferences 
who  teaches  Calvinism.  No  legislation  from  the 
hand  of  the  founder  of  Methodism  has  ever  had  a 
more  unanimous  acceptance  than  this  exclusion  of 
Augustinianism  ;  for  the  two  schemes  are  irrecon- 
cilable. Thus  does  Doctor  Wliedon  smnmarize 
their  antagonisms :  — 

"  THE    ISSUE    BETWEEN    ARMINIANISM    AND    CALVINISM. 

"  The  essential  and  universal  issue  which  Wesley  an 
Arminianism  has  taken  against  Calvinism  may  mostly  be 
stated  in  a  single  proposition.  We  deny  and  they  affirm 
the  GENETIC  PRINCIPLE  that  the  divine  government 
may  inalternatively  secure  the  sin  of  any  being,  and 
then  justly  damn  him  eternally  for  the  sin  so  secured. 
We  deny,  and  they  affirm  or  assume,  that  a  being  can 
be  justly  damned  for  sin  he  never  had  the  adequate 
power  of  avoiding.  We  affirm  that  adequate,  unneu- 
tralized  power  to  a  volition  is  necessary  to  responsi- 
bility ;  unless,  always,  that  power  has  been  responsibly 
forfeited. 

"  Calvinism  affirms,  or  assumes,  that  God  may  damn 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND   THEOLOGICAL.  29 

beings  for  sin  which  they  had  no  adequate  power  to 
avoid,  in  at  least  the  following  seven  cases  :  — 

"  1.  Original  Sin  and  Ability.  —  The  whole  human 
race,  as  fallen  in  Adam,  might  justly  be  damned  with 
an  absolutely  universal  damnation,  without  any  Saviour 
being  interposed,  or  any  adequate  j^ower  of  avoidance. 
At  such  a  view  we  stand  aghast  with  abhorrence.  Ar- 
minians  hold  that  a  '  gracious  abihty  '  is  necessary  to 
the  responsibihty  of  fallen  man ;  Taylorism  holds  that 
fallen  man  has  still  natural  ability  to  repent,  —  his  de- 
pravity consisting  in  the  free  uniformity  of  voluntary 
sinning. 

"  2.  Eternal  Reprobation.  —  From  the  above  first  Cal- 
vinistic  point  it  follows,  (i  fortiori.,  that  God  might  pass 
by  as  reprobate,  and  leave  in  eternal  damnation,  those 
who,  without  any  adequate  volitional  power  of  their 
own,  are  involved  in  the  guilt  of  Adam's  sin,  so  that  the 
reprobates  are  damned  for  what  they  never  could  avoid. 
About  the  most  appalling  of  dogmas  ! 

"  3.  Infant  Damnation.  —  A  fortiori,  it  is  equally 
just  for  God  to  pass  by  and  leave  in  reprobation  and 
eternal  death  any  or  aU  infants,  as  they  are  merely,  like 
all  others,  damned  for  what  they  cannot  help.  Our 
Arminianism  teaches  universal  infant  salvation. 

"4.  Will  Power. — A  fortiori,  again,  no  adequate 
volitional  ability,  or  power  of  choice,  is  requisite  in 
order  to  make  any  choice,  or  course  of  choices  and 
actions,  justly  worthy  of  eternal  damnation  ;  so  that, 
again,  any  man  may  be  justly  and  eternally  damned  for 
what  he  cannot  help.  Taylorism  teaches  that  the  agent 
must  possess  adequate  power  of  choice  contrary  to  the 
strongest  motive,  though  it  is  certain  he  will  never  exert 
it ;  Arminianism,  such  power  of  counter-choice,  unbound 
by  any  such  certainty. 


30  WILBUR  FISK. 

"  5.  Foreordained  Damnation.  —  By  an  act  of  irre- 
spective, unforeknowing  foreordination,  predetermining 
what  shall  come  to  pass,  the  reprobates  passed  by,  and 
intrinsically  incapable  of  repentance,  are  decretively 
consigned  to  perpetual  sin  and  eternal  death.  So  that 
reprobates  are  again  damned  for  what  they  cannot 
help. 

"  6.  Pagan  Damnation.  —  All  pagans  and  other 
persons  who  never  heard  of  Christ,  and  never  had  any 
means  of  salvation,  are  justly  damned  eternally  for  that 
want  of  faith  in  Christ  which  they  cannot  help. 

"  7.  Imputation.  —  Sin  may  be  justly  and  literally 
imputed  to  the  innocent,  whether  the  innocent  could 
avoid  it  or  not ;  so  that  Adam's  personal  sin  may  with 
strict  justice  be  imputed  as  guilt  in  his  innocent  pos- 
terity, and  the  sins  of  men  may  be  literally  imputed  in 
their  guilt  to  Christ,  and  he  suffer  infinite  punishment 
in  strict  justice ;  so  that  a  man  may,  by  intrinsic  justice, 
be  held  responsible  for  what  he  did  not  do  and  could 
not  help.  Arminianism  denies  the  transferability  of 
guilt  or  literal  punishment.  The  sin  of  Adam  is  not 
imputed  to  his  posterity,  nor  the  sin  of  man  imputed 
to  Christ.     Taylorism  here  is  rather  Arminian. 

"  Now,  whoever  holds  any  one  of  these  seven  points 
must  hold  it  on  the  generic  principle  that  a  man  may  be 
justly  damned  for  what  he  cannot  help;  and,  having 
once  conceded  this  principle,  he  has  no  defense  against 
either  of  the  others.  He  must,  in  strict  logic,  accept  or 
reject  the  whole.  He  can  reject  any  one  only  by  sum- 
marily rejecting  the  generic  principle  on  which  the  whole 
are  based." 

There  has  never  been  a  controversy  carried  on 
against  this  general  system  of  religious  thought  in 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND    THEOLOGICAL.  31 

any  of  the  relig-ious  bodies  which  trace  their  origin 
back  to  the  Wesleys.  I  cannot  recall  that  any 
clergyman  has  ever  left  our  church  and  joined 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  because  he  was 
weary  of  his  Arminian  theological  principles,  and 
desired  to  adopt  and  teach  the  characteristic  dog- 
mas of  Calvin.  Several  Methodist  clergymen 
known  to  me  have  become  pastors  of  Congrega- 
tional churches,  with  a  clear  and  avowed  under- 
standing on  aU  sides,  that  they  are  to  preach  their 
old  views  with  absolute  unconstraint. 

How  great  the  influence  of  these  anti-Calvinis- 
tic  views  has  been  in  dramng  the  minds  and  the 
hearts  of  men  to  the  Methodist  commimion  is  not 
easy  to  say  with  more  than  proximate  exactness  ; 
but  the  best  judges,  with  the  best  and  widest  means 
of  information,  agree  that  it  has  been  a  very  influ- 
ential motive.  In  replying  to  one  of  his  opponents 
of  the  Calvinistic  school.  Dr.  Fisk  incidentally 
testifies  to  the  large  share  of  these  doctrines  in 
extending  Methodist  principles  :  — 

"  Does  not  the  reverend  gentleman  know  that  a  great 
portion  of  our  members  in  New  England  are  those  who 
were  once  members  of  Calvinistic  congregations  ?  Does 
he  not  know  that  they  were  trained  up  in  these  doctrines 
from  their  infancy,  and  have  heard  them  explained  and 
defended  from  their  earliest  recollections  ?  Does  he 
not  know  that  Methodism  has  made  its  way  against  the 
impressions  of  the  nursei-y,  the  catechetical  instruction 
of  the  priest  and  the  schoolmaster,  the  influence  of  the 
pulpit  and  the  press,  and  in  maturer  age  against  the  still 


32  WILBUR  FISK. 

stronger  influence  of  academies  and  colleges  ?  And 
does  he  not  know,  also,  that  all  this  has  been  done  in 
this  generation  ?  And  shall  we  now  be  told  that  Meth- 
odists examine  but  one  side  of  a  question  ?  How  aston- 
ishing such  a  charge  from  a  man  who  can  make  any  pre- 
tensions to  a  knowledge  of  ecclesiastical  matters  in  this 
country  !  "  ^ 

In  speaking  of  the  causes  which  have  modified 
New  England  Calvinism,  Dr.  Fisk  proceeds :  — 

"  I  allude  to  the  introduction  of  Unitarianism  and 
Universalism  :  The  proximate  causes  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  these  sentiments  were,  among  others,  probably 
the  following  :  The  Antinomian  features  of  old  Calvin- 
ism had  introduced  into  the  churches  a  heartless  Chris- 
tianity and  a  very  lax  discipline.  It  was  natural,  there- 
fore, when  religion  had  come  in  point  of  fact  to  consist 
chiefly  in  external  performances,  for  its  votaries  to  seek 
a  theory  that  would  accord  with  their  practice.  Unita- 
rianism was  precisely  such  a  theory.  It  is  also  to  be  no- 
ticed that  the  state  of  formality  and  spiritual  death  that 
prevailed,  was  greatly  increased  by  the  withering  alli- 
ance which  then  existed  between  the  church  and  the 
civil  government.  This  revolution  was  undoubtedly 
hastened  also  by  the  ultraism,  on  the  one  part,  and  the 
technical  inconsistencies  on  the  other,  of  the  Hopkinsian 
theory.  The  elements  had  long  been  in  motion,  and  at 
length  they  united  in  an  array  of  numbers  and  influence 
that  wrested  the  fairest  portions  of  their  ecclesiastical 
domain  from  the  orthodox  churches  of  Massachusetts, 
and  turned  them  over,  together  with  the  richly  endowed 
university  of  the  State,  into  the  hands  of  the  Unitarians. 

^  Calvinistic  Controversy,  p.  74. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AND   THEOLOGICAL.  33 

"  In  Connecticut,  Unitarianism,  as  that  term  is  com- 
monly understood  among  us,  has  not  prevailed.  There 
is  but  one  Unitarian  pastor,  properly  so  called,  in  the 
State.  Tliis  sentiment,  however,  prevails  very  exten- 
sively, in  this  and  all  the  other  New  England  States, 
under  the  name  of  Universalism  ;  a  sentiment  which 
differs  but  little  from  Socinianism,  and  has  its  origin 
doubtless  from  the  same  source.  About  a  half  a  century 
since,  a  Calvinistic  clergyman,  as  he  was  supposed  to  be 
up  to  the  day  of  his  death,  left  a  posthumous  work,  which 
was  published,  entitled  '  Calvmism  Improved.'  It  was 
merely  an  extension  of  unconditional  election  and  irre- 
sistible grace  to  all,  instead  of  a  part.  From  the  pre- 
mises the  reasoning  seemed  fair,  and  the  conclusions 
legitimate.  This  made  many  converts.  And  this  idea 
of  universal  salvation,  when  once  it  is  embraced,  can 
easily  be  moulded  into  any  shape,  provided  its  main 
feature  be  retained.  It  has  finally  pretty  generally  run 
into  the  semi-infidel  sentiments  of  no  atonement,  no 
divine  Saviour,  no  Holy  Ghost,  and  no  supernatural 
change  of  heart,  as  well  as  no  '  hell,  no  Devil,  no  angry 
God.' 

"  It  may  be  a  matter  of  some  surprise,  perhaps,  to  a 
superficial  observer,  or  to  one  not  well  acquainted  with 
the  circumstances  of  the  case,  why,  in  leaving  Calvin- 
ism, these  men  should  go  so  far  beyond  the  line  of 
truth.  But  in  this  we  see  the  known  tendency  of  the 
human  mind  to  run  into  extremes.  The  repulsive  fea- 
tures of  the  old  system  drove  them  far  the  other  way.  It 
ought  to  be  remembered,  also,  that  there  were  few,  if 
any,  who  were  stationed  on  the  middle  line,  to  arrest 
and  delay  the  public  mind  in  its  fearful  recoil  from  the 
'  horrible  decree.'     Had  Methodism  been  as  well  known 


34  WILBUR  FISK. 

in  New  England  fifty  years  ago  as  it  is  now,  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  Universalism  or  Unitarianism  would  have  gained 
much  influence  in  this  country.  Late  as  it  was  intro- 
duced and  much  as  it  was  opposed,  it  is  believed  to  have 
done  much  towards  checking  the  progress  of  those  senti- 
ments. And  perhaps  it  is  in  part  owing  to  the  earlier  in- 
troduction and  wider  spread  of  Methodism  in  Connecti- 
cut, that  Unitarianism  has  not  gained  more  influence  in 
the  State.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  fact  in  the  States  of 
Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine,  where  Methodism 
was  introduced  nearly  as  early  as  those  other  doctrinal 
views.  The  result  has  shown  that  the  foregoing  suppo- 
sition is  corroborated  by  facts  in  those  cases  where  the 
experiment  has  been  tried.  These  remarks  may  not 
now  be  credited,  but  the  time  will  come,  when  the  preju- 
dices of  the  day  are  worn  out,  that  the  candid  historian 
wiU  do  the  subject  justice."  ^ 

If  this  view  of  the  relations  between  the  domi- 
nant Calvinistic  systems  of  New  England  and  the 
reactions  against  the  Genevan  dogmas  which  have 
found  their  embodiment  in  Universalism  and  Uni- 
tarianism are  correct,  it  will  at  once  appear  how 
indispensable  was  the  appearance  of  some  body  of 
believers  who  should  combine,  with  an  utter  and 
systematic  rejection  of  the  dogmatic  and  metaphys- 
ical errors  of  the  popular  creed,  faith  in  the  author- 
itative revelations  of  the  Bible,  faith  in  a  reasona- 
ble theory  of  human  depravity,  faith  in  the  possi- 
ble salvation  of  every  hearer  of  the  gospel  message, 
and  faith  that  no  soul  can  ever  be  lost  forever  un- 
less it  has  wilfully  closed  its  eyes  upon  the  light  of 
*  Calvinistic  Controversy,  p.  85. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AND   THEOLOGICAL.  35 

the  gospel,  and  spurned  the  very  grace  by  which  all 
souls  are  saved.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
was  so  handicapped  by  its  traditional  toleration  of 
Calvinism  that  it  would  have  been  illogical  for  her 
to  lead  a  crusade  against  New  England  Calvinism. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  alone  was  able  to 
put  her  whole  heart  into  her  challenge  of  those  fatal 
dogmas.  That  she  was  in  a  position  to  make  this 
protest  effectual  she  owed  to  the  far-sighted  sagac- 
ity with  which  John  Wesley  purged  her  articles  of 
relio'ion  from  the  last  traces  of  sacerdotalism  and 
Calvinism.  Let  Matthew  Arnold  prate  as  he  will 
of  John  Wesley  as  a  mind  of  the  third  order, 
Methodists  in  all  the  world  will  gratefully  remem- 
ber that,  in  his  unique  position  as  their  providen- 
tial legislator,  he  gave  them  in  substance  that  no- 
ble Greek  theology  before  which  a  great  future  is 
so  visibly  opening.  Nor  was  this  a  slight  benedic- 
tion, since  there  are  to-day,  in  all  branches  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  5,500,000  members. 

Of  course,  distrust  of  Calvinistic  dogma  was  not 
the  only  motive  which  drew  so  many  thousands  of 
people  from  the  other  New  England  churches  to 
the  Methodist  fold.  The  belief  in  instantaneous 
conversion,  of  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
his  own  work  in  renewing  the  sinner,  and  the  pos- 
sibility of  constant  and  unbroken  communion  with 
God,  have  very  widely  commended  themselves  to 
popular  favor.  The  doctrine  of  Christian  Perfec- 
tion has  always  and  everywhere  commended  itself 
to  not  a  few  of  the  most  pious  and  devout  souls  in 


36  WILBUR  FISK. 

all  churches.     This  experience  was  the  joy  and  the 
crown  of  Wilbur  Fisk's  life. 

Whoever  compares  the  development  of  Methodist 
theology  as  it  has  been  shaped  by  Wesley,  Watson, 
Fletcher,  Pope,  Summers,  and  Raymond,  and  con- 
troversialists like  Fisk,  Hodgson,  and  Whedon, 
with  the  works  of  the  English  Platonists,  or  those 
of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  Atliana- 
sius,  will  see  that  the  Methodist  leaders  have  not 
yet  fully  reshaped  that  theology  for  modern  uses 
and  necessities.  That  theology  taught  that  God  is 
immanent  in  the  universe  ;  that  humanity  has  its 
life  and  being  in  Christ ;  that  the  divine  mercy  cov- 
ers the  whole  race  of  man  in  its  promises  and  gifts ; 
that  the  ethical  transformation  of  human  charac- 
ter is  the  grand  proof  of  the  Christian  religion  ; 
that  Christ  dwells  both  in  nature  and  the  human 
soul ;  that  for  the  soul,  by  virtue  of  its  original  con- 
stitution in  the  image  of  God,  it  "  becomes  the  law 
of  its  being  to  fulfill  its  possibilities,  and  to  rise 
to  full  resemblance  to  God  ;  "  that  Greek  philoso- 
phy as  well  as  Jewish  prophecy  was  a  preparation 
for  Christ ;  that  the  most  essential  quality  in  God 
is  love,  and  freedom  the  fundamental  trait  of  man ; 
that  ignorance  and  an  impaired  will  are  the  chief 
obstructions  to  salvation  ;  that  life  is  a  probation 
for  all,  but  may  be  made  foi"  any  a  divine  educa- 
tion for  eternal  bliss ;  that  in  enlightened  human 
reason  the  best  guide  is  found  to  the  understand- 
ing of  the  Bible  ;  that  all  ecclesiastical  institutions 
are   to    be   treated    with    honor   and  respect,   but 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND    THEOLOGICAL.  37 

apostolical  succession,  or  the  necessity  of  recogniz- 
ing the  authority  of  the  local  bishop  to  become  a 
genuine  Christian,  or  to  enjoy  valid  sacraments,  are 
not  essential  elements  in  the  system  of  the  Chi'is- 
tian  Church. 

The  two  great  truths  to  which  Wesleyan  theol- 
ogy has  everywhere  appealed  are,  the  freedom  of 
the  human  will,  and  the  indweUing  of  Chi-ist  in 
the  redeemed  soul.  This  latter  doctrine  lies  at  the 
root  of  the  Wesleyan  doctrine  of  the  witness  of  the 
spirit.  This  indwelling  of  Christ  in  the  redeemed 
soul  is  a  return  to  the  primal  constitution  of  man 
before  he  had  ever  known  sin  at  all,  and  so  is 
a  natural  condition  supernaturally  restored  in  re- 
demj3tion.  Hence  the  exalted  joy  which  peals  out 
in  every  portrayal  of  this  experience  of  salvation 
from  the  beginning  until  this  hour. 

The  probable  reason  why  these  points  have  had 
a  larger  share  than  other  elements  of  that  noble 
system  in  the  thought  and  teaching  of  the  Wesley- 
ans  is  the  fact  that  its  teachers  have  been  rather 
leaders  in  a  great  religious  revival  than  leisurely 
students  and  professors  of  theology.  Such  men 
naturally  seize,  and  urge  upon  the  attention  of  the 
public,  those  religious  and  philosophical  truths 
which  speak  most  impressively  to  the  conscience 
and  intellect  of  men.  Such  men  may  be  a  little 
slow  to  make  out  that  the  conception  of  God  which 
has  ruled  and  inspired  that  theology  is  an  even 
greater  advance  upon  the  conception  of  God  enter- 
tained and  advocated  by  Augustine   and   Calvin 

90900 


38  WILBUR  FISK. 

than  the  Whecloniau  conception  of  freedom  is  over 
the  Edwardean. 

The  immanence  of  God  in  nature  and  in  the  hu- 
man mind,  the  natural  relationship  of  humanity  to 
Christ,  the  sacredness  of  the  act  of  personal  voli- 
tion in  which  every  redeemed  spirit  renounces  self- 
rule  and  puts  itself  into  the  hands  of  its  divine  in- 
structor, and  the  fact  that  these  critical  choices  are 
nowise  connected  with  the  sacraments,  are  points 
which  show  the  structural  sympathy  of  that  system 
with  Wesleyanism.  The  Wesleyan  theology  will 
not  attain  its  full  coherence  and  significance  until 
all  these  elements  have  fully  resumed  their  proper 
place  and  vitality. 

It  is  along  this  line  of  living  growth  in  the 
churches  which  derive  their  theology  from  John 
Wesley  that  this  noble  and  comprehensive  theolog- 
ical system  will  find  the  requisite  conditions  for  its 
rapid  and  perfect  growth.  Here  the  revelations  of 
the  New  Testament  ^\^ll  always  be  regarded  as  the 
enlightening  and  renewing  power  that  shall  yet 
make  all  things  new,  which  are  still  alien  to  its 
sj)irit  in  the  church  and  the  world. 

How  urgent  the  call  for  such  a  broad  and  nor- 
mal development  of  that  theology  is,  may  be  seen 
from  the  distortions  that  theology  has  undergone 
in  the  hands  of  Schleiermacher.  He  assigns  to  the 
"  Christian  consciousness  "  not  only  power  to  add 
to  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament,  but  also  to 
revise  and  correct  them.  This  he  proceeds  to  do 
by  denying  personality  to  God  and  immortality  to 


ECCLESIASTICAL   AND   THEOLOGICAL.  39 

the  soul,  thus  making  freedom  a  dream,  morality 
impossible,  and  any  permanent  and  personal  rela^ 
tion  between  Christ  and  the  hmnan  soul  a  delusion 
and  a  snare.  In  the  Greek  theology,  Christ  is 
always  the  master  and  the  instructor  of  the  human 
soul,  but  here  Christ  himself  is  corrected  by  the 
"Christian  consciousness"  of  later  times,  in  respect 
to  all  the  essential  features  of  his  theology,  in  the 
most  remorseless  manner.  It  is  an  absolute  re- 
versal of  the  main  idea  of  the  Greek  theology 
that  we  Nvitness  here.  This  reversal  of  roles  be- 
tween the  gTcat  instructor  of  souls  and  the  souls 
he  instructs  is  fatal  to  all  Christianity.  This 
folly  Methodist  theology  has  never  committed,  and 
doubtless  never  will  commit.  Here  lies  its  safety 
and  its  promise. 

Incomparably  the  best  discussion  of  this  subject 
for  the  general  reader  is  Doctor  A.  V.  G.  Allen's 
"  The  Continuity  of  Christian  Thought,"  a  broad- 
minded,  impartial,  and  scholarly  work.  Of  church 
histoi-ians,  Pressense's  account  is  best.  Absolutely 
fascinating  is  John  Tulloch's  "  Rational  Theology 
and  Christian  Philosophy  in  England  in  the  Seven- 
teenth Century,"  as  a  picture  of  the  English  school 
from  which  the  Wesleys  drew  their  theology. 


J 


J 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   ITINERANT   MINISTER. 

In  tlie  brief  space  at  our  command,  we  cannot 
follow  Wilbur  Fisk  in  any  detailed  exhibition  of 
his  ministerial  labors.  We  shall  try  only  to  show 
in  what  spirit  and  with  what  success  he  performed 
the  ordinary  work  of  the  ministry,  and  how  these 
soon  conducted  him  to  the  special  educational  ac- 
tivity of  his  subsequent  career. 

The  pastoral  life  of  Mr.  Fisk  was  very  brief, 
covering  less  than  three  years  in  all,  since  he  be- 
came the  presiding  elder  of  the  Vermont  district 
at  the  conclusion  of  his  stay  in  Charlestown. 
Three  years  he  was  a  presiding  elder,  and  then 
besran  the  educational  work  which  was  to  fill  all 
his  remaining  years.  As  he  had  no  foresight  of 
the  brevity  of  his  pastoral  career,  he  set  about  it 
with  such  earnestness  and  care  as  would  have  be- 
come a  life  set  apart  solely  to  such  duties. 

His  first  appointment,  in  1818,  was  to  Crafts- 
bury  circuit  in  Vermont,  about  thirty  miles  from 
his  home.  His  first  preaching-place  there  was  in 
a  private  house.  The  population  then  was  small 
and  scattered,  and  at  first  his  message  seemed  to 
make    no    impression.       This    bred   in  him  great 


THE   ITINERANT  MINISTER.  41 

searchlngs  of  heart.  He  thought  that  where  so 
much  careful  and  painstaking  labor  had  been  put 
forth  by  his  predecessors,  he  might  properly  look 
for  speedy  results  of  his  labors.  As  Father  Tay- 
lor once  said  of  another,  "  He  carried  both  seed- 
basket  and  sickle  to  the  field  together."  But  so 
faithful  was  he  in  visiting  his  flock,  in  house-to- 
house  conversation  with  all  classes  of  his  hearers, 
and  so  plain  and  impressive  were  his  sermons,  that 
his  expectation  of  finding  a  chance  to  use  his  sickle 
proved  well  founded.  A  removal  of  the  public  ser- 
vices to  the  court-house  became  necessary ;  a  revival 
of  religion  spread  far  and  wide,  and  drew  in  many 
of  the  best  citizens  as  converts.  A  church  was 
built  for  the  rapidly  growing  society,  so  that  the 
pastorate  of  Wilbur  Fisk  marked  a  new  era  in  the 
life  of  the  Methodist  Church  there,  for  he  admit- 
ted eighty -four  converts  into  the  church.  Not- 
withstanding his  frail  health  and  the  severity  of 
the  climate,  he  went  through  all  the  routine  duties 
of  an  itinerant  minister.  He  kept  a  full  list  of 
the  persons  converted  to  Christ  during  his  stay  at 
Craf tsbury,  —  a  list  that  may  still  be  seen  among 
his  papers.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Fisk  used  to  read 
over  the  list  sometimes,  and  pray  earnestly  that 
God  would  fill  them  with  his  grace  and  heavenly 
benediction.  They  were,  indeed,  noticeable  for  the 
strength  and  purity  of  their  religious  character. 

At  the  Lynn  Conference  in  1819,  Mr.  Fisk 
was  appointed  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Church  at 
Charlestown,  Mass.     Here  the  church  was  small. 


42  WILBUR   FISK. 

feeble,  and  in  debt.  There  was  little  on  the  face 
of  things  to  encourage  the  hope  for  a  successful 
pastorate ;  but  he  turned  toward  the  new  work  with 
obedience  and  hope.  The  first  sermon  preached 
there  shows  how  well  he  knew  that  God  alone 
could  help  him,  and  how  f  idly  he  thought  the  Lord 
could  render  his  ministry  fruitful.  Here  are  the 
resolutions  which  he  fixed  on  to  aid  him  in  making 
the  best  use  of  liis  time :  — 

1.  To  retire  at  nine  and  rise  at  five. 

2.  To  appropriate  one  hour  to  my  morning  de- 
votions. 

3.  Allow  one  hour  for  breakfast,  family  devo- 
tion, and  such  incidental  circumstances  as  may  de- 
mand my  attention. 

4.  Will  write  two  hours  each  day. 

5.  Will  spend  two  hours  in  some  regidar  scien- 
tific or  literary  study. 

6.  Will  spend  one  hour  in  miscellaneous  reading. 

7.  One  hour  for  my  devotions  at  noon. 

8.  One  hour  for  dinner. 

9.  One  hour  each  day  in  preparing  my  discourses 
for  the  Sabbath. 

10.  The  remainder  of  the  day  will  generally  be 
devoted  to  visiting. 

11.  Whenever  constrained  to  break  in  upon  my 
regular  course,  I  will  endeavor  to  prevent  loss  of 
time  by  returning  to  it  as  soon  as  may  be,  and 
then  attend  to  those  branches  which  my  judgment 
dictates  it  will  be  most  improper  to  neglect;  at  all 


THE  ITINERANT  MINISTER.  43 

times  remembering  not  to  curtail  my  devotions,  or 
my  preparations  for  the  Sabbath. 

12.  When,  in  the  course  of  my  employments,  a 
passage  of  Scripture  occurs  to  my  mind,  or  a  strik- 
ing thought  occurs  to  me,  I  will  take  the  fii'st  op- 
portunity to  commit  it  to  writing. 

13.  In  my  devotions  it  shall  be  my  particular 
duty  to  pray  for  a  deepening  of  the  work  of  grace 
in  my  heart,  and  for  a  revival  of  the  work  of  God 
in  the  town  where  I  labor. 

14.  I  must  not  dine  out  on  the  Sabbath. 

The  criticism  which  one  ought  to  make  upon 
such  a  scheme  of  daily  labor  is,  that  there  is  no 
provision  for  recreation  in  it.  At  five  o'clock 
every  day  he  was  to  begin  his  morning  programme 
of  varied  mental  and  devotional  employments, 
and,  his  dinner  once  down,  the  rest  of  the  day 
was  to  be  devoted  to  pastoral  visiting.  With  his 
make-up,  his  intense  convictions  of  duty,  his  notion 
that  his  devotions  and  his  visiting  alike  should  be 
directed  towards  a  revival  of  religion  in  his  new 
charge,  he  ought  to  have  secured  two  or  three  hours 
of  exercise  in  the  open  air.  Probably  he  fancied 
that  he  shoidd  get,  in  his  visits  to  his  people,  as 
much  air  and  exercise  as  he  really  needed.  But 
true  pastoral  visiting,  such  as  he  was  certain  to 
devote  himself  to,  is  quite  as  heavy  a  draft  on  one's 
nervous  vigor  as  any  study.  Such  an  unbroken 
round  of  labors  would  be  certain  beforehand  to 
bring  on  broken  health.     But  he  set  about  his  new 


44  WILBUR   FISK. 

life  with  the  firmest  purpose  to  do  his  best  for 
his  people,  at  whatever  risk  to  himself.  From  the 
veiy  beginning  his  preaching  made  a  decided  im- 
pression, so  that  the  little  congregation  was  greatly 
enlarged.  With  his  characteristic  hmnility,  he  ex- 
plained this  growth  by  the  existence  of  an  ugly 
quarrel  in  the  churches  whose  attendants  sought  his 
church.  He  noted  various  topics  down  for  care- 
ful study  and  inquiry,  some  so  wide-ranging  they 
would  have  demanded  years  for  a  full  investiga- 
tion, and  others  relating  to  Christian  exjierience. 
He  asks :  — 

"  How  far  may  those  bodily  exercises,  which  many 
religiously  affected  persons  are  influenced  by,  proceed 
from  the  operation  of  a  good  spirit,  and  how  far  from 
that  of  a  bad  spirit  ?  How  may  we  be  able  to  distin- 
guish between  them  ?  " 

With  such  theological  and  practical  questions  stir- 
ring in  his  mind,  he  kept  about  the  routine  duties  of 
his  calling,  until  he  attended  a  camp-meeting  held 
at  Wellfleet,  Cape  Cod,  the  10th  of  August,  1819. 
To  interpret  what  happened  to  Mr.  Fisk  there, 
one  shoidd  bear  in  mind  the  Wesleyan  doctrine  of 
entire  sanctification,  Christian  perfection,  or  perfect 
love.  This  doctrine  Wilbur  Fisk  held  so  strongly 
that  he  had  given  this  belief  to  his  betrothed.  Miss 
Peck,  as  one  of  the  reasons  why  he  felt  compelled 
to  enter  the  Methodist  ministry.  From  the  ques- 
tions noted  down  above,  it  is  evident  that  the  "  bod- 
ily exercises "  that  had  been  reported  to  him  as 


THE  ITINERANT  MINISTER.  45 

happening  in  certain  cases,  were  objects  of  special 
susj^icion  to  his  mind.  These  questions  were  all 
settled  for  him  at  that  meeting.  In  a  record  made 
August  19th  he  tells  his  experiences  there.  He 
had  been  earnestly  longing  for  more  of  God,  yet 
went  to  the  meeting  without  any  special  impression. 
Tuesday  he  rather  looked  on  than  joined  in  the  wor- 
ship. As  he  was  passing  one  of  the  Boston  tents,  a 
lady  asked  him  to  stay  in  that  tent.  She  then  told 
him  that,  on  the  way  down,  an  assurance  had  been 
given  her  that  Mr.  Fisk  would  receive  the  blessing  of 
a  holy  heart  at  that  meeting.  "  Her  words  tlu-illed 
thi'ough  me  in  an  indescribable  manner.  I  wept  a 
few  moments,  I  trembled,  I  fell.  But  Satan  drew 
a  veil  of  unbelief  over  my  mind.  They  prayed  for 
me,  but  all  was  dark,  —  my  heart  was  harder  than 
ever."  And  so  the  struggle  went  on,  growing  in  its 
intensity  and  depth,  until  fearfulness  and  anguish 
laid  hold  upon  him.  He  was  beset  with  a  sudden 
fear  that  he  should  never  possess  that  most  price- 
less pearl,  a  clean  heart,  but  certain  passages  of 
Scripture  seemed  to  break  the  force  of  such  fears. 

"  Thursday  morning  we  had  a  familiar  conversation 
concerning  heart-holiness.  Some  of  the  holy  women 
prayed  for  me  again,  but  without  a  sensible  answer.  I 
preached  that  day  with  considerable  liberty,  felt  my 
mind  more  and  move  given  up  to  the  work,  but  thought, 
if  I  had  been  through  such  struggles  and  had  not  ob- 
tained what  I  was  seeking,  much  viore  remained  to 
be  endured.  And  I  felt  willing  to  endure  anything. 
About  the  setting  of  the  sun,  word  came  that  souls  were 


46  WILBUR  FISK. 

begging  for  prayers  in  Bi'other  Taylor's  tent.  I  went 
immediately  in,  and,  behold,  God  was  there.  We 
united  in  prayer,  when  one  after  the  other,  to  the  num- 
ber of  four  or  live,  were  converted.  AVe  rose  to  sing. 
I  looked  up  to  God,  and  thanked  him  for  hearing 
prayer,  and  cried,  '  Lord,  why  not  hear  prayer  for  my 
soul  ?  '  My  strength  began  to  fail  me  while  I  looked  in 
faith.  '  Come,  Lord,  and  come  now.  Thou  wilt  come. 
Heaven  opens,  my  Saviour  smiles,  —  glory,  glory  I  Oh, 
glory  to  God !  Help  me,  my  brethren,  to  praise  the 
Lord.'  The  scene  that  was  now  opened  to  my  view  I 
can  never  describe.  I  could  say,  '  Lord,  thou  knowest 
that  I  love  thee  !  I  love  thee  above  everything.'  I  was 
humbled  in  the  dust,  that  God  should  so  bless  such  an 
undeserving  soul.  I  could  look  back  upon  my  past  life, 
and  see  how  he  had  led  me  even  while  I  was  in  disobe- 
dience ;  how  he  had  supported  me  even  in  the  midst 
of  temptation.  And  now  nothing  was  wanting  but  to 
snap  life's  tender  thread  to  let  the  soul  fly  away  to 
heaven.  I  sang,  I  shouted,  and  methinks  the  spectators 
must  have  thought  me  filled  with  new  wine.  0  my  God, 
how  dost  thou  bring  to  naught  the  wisdom  of  the  woiM  ! 
When  we  would  be  wise,  we  must  become  fools  that  we 
may  be  wise.  Then  we  shall  have  the  wisdom  that  is 
from  above.  What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all 
his  benefits  ?  how  shall  I  praise  him  for  all  his  mercies  ? 
Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me 
praise  his  holy  name." 

This  wonderful  event  is  described  in  a  letter  un- 
der date  of  1839,  written  by  a  sympathetic  spec- 
tator, Rev.  Jotham  Horton,  on  whose  mind  an  in- 
delible impression  was  left.  We  cite  so  much  as 
concerns  Wilbur  Fisk  :  — 


THE  ITISERAyr  MINISTER.  47 

"  But  for  nothing  was  the  meeting  more  remarkable 
than  the  work  of  holiness  among  believers.  The  atten- 
tion of  the  church  had  been  directed  to  that  subject  by 
the  Rev.  T.  Merritt  and  the  seniors  in  the  mmistry. 
Many  sought  and  found  the  pearl  of  great  price.  An 
awful  but  delightful  serenity  marked  the  countenances 
of  believers.  Our  beloved  Brother  Fisk  was  among  the 
preachers  present.  Like  others,  his  mind  was  deeply 
wrought  upon  for  holiness.  But  the  habits  of  philo- 
sophical investigation,  which  his  previous  education  had 
induced,  made  him  exceedingly  careful  lest  the  fruits  of 
imagination  under  high  devotional  feeling,  or  the  effer- 
vescence of  strong  religious  excitement,  should  be  substi- 
tuted for  the  sanctifymg  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Hence  the  extraordinary  exercises,  which  in  some  cases 
were  exhibited,  were  observed  by  him  with  a  jealous 
scrutiny. 

"  In  one  of  the  larger  tents,  where  a  number  of  those 
most  deeply  experienced  in  the  things  of  God  united  in 
earnest  supplication,  Mr.  Fisk  was  present,  and  so  over- 
whelming were  the  manifestations  of  the  power  of  God 
that  he  sank  to  the  ground.  This  was  as  unexpected 
to  others  as  to  himself.  He  had  just  been  engaged  in 
vocal  prayer,  and  one  sentiment  which  he  had  most  de- 
voutly expressed  was  that  no  influence,  save  that  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  might  give  character  to  the  devotion  In 
which  they  were  engaged.  He  was  in  the  very  act  of 
guarding  against  strange  fires,  and  supplicating  a  holy 
baptism,  when  nature  sank  under  the  power  of  God. 
The  meeting  progressed  in  great  power  and  glory.  I 
saw  Brother  Merritt  but  a  few  moments  after,  and  men- 
tioned to  him  what  was  doing  in  the  company.  .  .  .  He 
repaired  to  the  place,  and.  after  standing  a  few  mo- 


48  WILBUR  FISK. 

ments  gazing  with  wonder  and  admiration  upon  a  work 
which  bore  such  evident  marks  of  the  finger  of  God,  he 
remai'ked  to  several  standing  by,  '  I  never  saw  the 
power  of  God  so  displayed  on  earth.' 

"  When  Wilbur  Fisk  had  so  far  recovered  his  physical 
strength  as  to  be  able  to  be  taken  to  his  own  tent,  there 
was  held  another  season  of  holy  communion.  Being  un- 
able to  stand,  he  was  sujiported  by  ministerial  brethren. 
His  language  and  whole  appearance  had  something  in 
them  more  than  human,  indicating  that  his  soul  then 
glowed  with  ardors  of  love  allied  to  those  of  angels. 
From  this  period,  Mr.  Fisk  dated  his  experience  of  per- 
fect love." 

It  was  truly  characteristic  of  this  honest  and 
conscientious  man  that  he  should  give  such  critical 
study  to  all  the  elements  and  phases  of  his  own 
spiritual  life,  and  those  of  the  company  around 
him  at  Wellfleet.  He  was  eager  to  learn  the  exact 
truth  from  the  study  of  the  word  of  God,  from 
the  experience  of  mature  Christians,  and  through 
intercession  with  Christ,  that  he  might  be  able  to 
offer  a  pure  offering  in  his  approaches  to  God. 
It  is  certain  that  the  marvelous  scenes  at  Wellfleet 
made  a  permanent  change  in  Wilbur  Fisk's  reli- 
gious life.  Before  that,  he  had  passed  through  sea- 
sons when  he  doubted  the  fact  of  his  acceptance 
with  God,  his  personal  interest  in  Christ,  and  even 
the  truth  of  Christianity  itself.  When  a  young 
minister  consulted  him  at  one  of  the  sessions  of 
the  New  England  Conference  concerning  just  such 
a   series    of   difficulties    as   Mr.   Fisk  had  passed 


THE   ITINERANT  MINISTER.  49 

through  himself,  he  told  him  that  he  had  been  de- 
livered from  such  things  forever  at  the  Wellfleet 
meeting.  But,  of  course,  the  removal  of  such  sj^ir- 
itual  obstructions  is  only  one  of  the  indispensable 
prerequisites  to  the  full  development  of  the  life  of 
perfect  purity,  perfect  faith,  perfect  love,  perfect 
humility,  and  meekness.  We  have  further  light 
in  respect  to  his  spiritual  condition  and  views  in  a 
letter 

TO   HIS   SISTER   MARY. 

Charlestown,  November  20,  1819. 

I  think  my  confinement  has  proved  a  blessing  to  me. 
I  find  every  gi-ace  must  be  tried.  I  had  been  previously 
sorely  tempted  in  many  ways.  And  because  the  infii-m- 
ities  of  the  body  sometimes  weighed  down  the  soul,  Sa- 
tan would  say,  '  You  have  lost  the  blessing  you  received 
at  Wellfleet'  (for  he  was  not  permitted  to  say  I  received 
none).  However,  in  the  midst  of  these  and  various 
other  temptations,  which  caused  me  to  be  in  heaviness, 
my  faith  was  not  moved  from  its  object.  But  this 
seemed  to  be  my  state.  In  the  work  of  sanctification 
upon  the  heart,  there  appear  to  be  two  distinct  opera- 
tions :  one  is,  to  empty  the  soul  of  sin  and  everything 
offensive ;  and  another  is,  to  fill  it  with  love.  1.  The 
strong  man  armed  is  bound  and  cast  out ;  2.  The 
stronger  takes  possession.  God  was  pleased,  however, 
in  my  case,  to  empty  and  fill  in  the  same  moment.  But 
to  try  my  faith,  or  for  some  other  purpose,  that  full- 
ness was,  after  a  time,  occasionally  withdrawn.  Still 
I  could  not  discover  that  there  was  anything  in  my 
heart  contrary  to  the  will  of  God.  In  this  situation, 
Satan  assailed  me.     Then  I  had  reason  to  thank  God 


50  WILBUR  FISK. 

for  fathers  and  mothers  in  the  church  that  could  both 
instruct  me  and  pray  for  me,  but  more  especially  that 
Jesus  is  my  friend ;  for  I  felt  him  so.  I  prayed  the 
Lord  to  fill  me  and  sink  me  into  his  will  before  I  left 
the  chamber.  The  Lord  heard.  O  my  sister,  what  a 
blessed  Saviour  we  have  !  He  saves  his  peojjle  from  their 
sins.  He  fills  them  with  his  fullness.  It  was  not  that 
ecstasy  of  animation  which  I  have  sometimes  felt,  but  it 
was  a  holy  sinking  into  the  will  of  God.  Often,  ever 
since  that  time,  while  I  am  sitting  in  my  chamber,  look- 
ing at  what  the  Saviour  has  done  for  me  and  for  the 
world,  '  my  heart  is  dissolved  in  thankfulness,  and  my 
eyes  are  melted  to  tears.'  My  best  hours  are  in  retire- 
ment, holding  communion  with  my  Saviour.  At  these 
times  I  think  of  you,  in  your  seclusion  from  the  world, 
and  think  what  blessings  you  may  enjoy,  if  you  seek  and 
obtain  all  that  is  your  privilege.  Every  day  I  bear  your 
case  to  our  heavenly  Father.  O  sister  !  be  in  earnest. 
You  must  be  holy  ;  but  it  will  cost  you  a  struggle. 
Though  you  have  not  wandered  as  far  as  I  did,  yet  you 
continued  too  long  '  a  slain  witness.'  But  perhaps  the 
Lord  will  bring  you  in  a  way  you  have  not  known. 
Leave  with  him  entirely  the  manner  how,  and  the 
means  by  which,  you  are  to  be  brought  there.  Ask  the 
Lord  for  just  what  you  want,  —  a  victory  over  inbred 
corruption,  a  fullness  of  love,  an  abiding  witness  of  the 
Spirit.  Stop  not  to  debate  with  the  enemy  the  question 
whether  you  ever  were  converted.  The  question  is. 
What  do  I  want  ?  And,  when  you  have  discovered  your 
wants,  carry  them  to  him  in  whom  all  fullness  dwells,  — 
^  to  Jesus.  The  very  name,  sinful  and  unworthy  as  you 
may  feel  yourself,  will  afford  you  encouragement. 
What  says  the  angel  ?    '  Thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus.' 


THE  ITINERANT  MINISTER.  51 

Why,  heavenly  messenger,  why  call  his  name  Jesus  ? 
'  Because  he  shall  save  his  jJeople  from  their  siiis.''  " 

From  this  time  forth,  Wilbur  Fisk  never 
changed  his  estimate  of  the  nature  of  the  work  of 
grace  wrought  in  his  soul  at  the  Wellfleet  camp- 
meeting  ;  nor  was  there  anything  in  his  spirit,  or 
speech,  or  conduct,  public  or  private,  which  ever  led 
men  associated  with  him  to  think  his  conception 
of  that  work  a  mistaken  one.  On  the  contrary,  the 
testimony  of  all  his  associates  in  the  various  posi- 
tions he  filled  was  uniform  and  outspoken  that  he 
did  live  up  even  to  the  high  standard  he  professed. 

Dr.  Holdich,  whose  long  association  with  Dr. 
risk  at  Wesleyan  University  renders  him  well 
informed,  says :  — 

"  From  this  time  he  has  been  heard  to  say  that  he 
never  laid  his  head  upon  his  pillow  at  night  without  feel- 
ing that,  if  he  never  waked  in  this  world,  all  would  be 
well.  Prior  to  this,  he  was  often  subject  to  desponding, 
gloomy  seasons  :  we  heard  him  say  long  afterwards  that 
he  knew  no  gloomy  hours  ;  his  mind  was  always  serene 
and  happy." 

This  wonderful  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  made 
certain  permanent  changes  in  his  theological  views. 
He  had  learned,  in  those  hours  of  passionate  yearn- 
ing after  God,  the  profound  lesson  of  his  utter  de- 
pendence on  Christ  for  salvation.  Nothing  that 
he  was,  nothing  that  he  had  done  or  could  do, 
nothing  that  he  had  suffered,  and  nothing  that  any 
creature  could  do  for  him,  was  of  any  avail  before 
God  as  a  ground  for  pardon  or  sanctification.    This 


52  WILBUR  FISK. 

he  had  learned,  not  from  books  or  human  teachers, 
but  in  the  mysterious  and  awful  struggle  after  the 
perfect  submission  of  his  o-vvn  will  to  the  will  of  a 
holy  God,  and  his  passionate  pleadings  with  God 
that  even  in  this  life  the  almighty  Saviour  would 
bestow  on  him  the  utmost  grace  of  possible  sal- 
vation from  sin.  After  such  an  experience,  any 
man's  conception  of  his  utter  sinfidness,  and  of  the 
sole  sufficiency  of  Christ's  blood  to  cleanse,  must 
remain  forever  changed.  The  incarnation  of  Christ 
was  regarded  as  a  necessary  means  of  revealing  the 
nature  and  especially  the  love  of  God  to  mankind. 
The  Gospels  must  be  studied  and  understood  as  the 
records  of  the  life  of  God  incarnate  on  earth.  But 
the  culminating  act  of  this  manifestation  of  the 
love  of  God  the  Father  for  lost  men  was  the  sac- 
rificial, the  atoning,  death  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the 
cross.  Contrasted  with  the  worthlessness  and  help- 
lessness of  all  human  merit,  strength,  and  interces- 
sion was  the  omnipotence  of  the  gracious  interces- 
sion of  Christ.  That  had  availed,  had  brought 
him  pardon  for  sin,  peace  with  God,  and  purity  of 
heart.     Of  him  he  gratefully  sang  :  — 

"  Thy  offering  still  continues  new, 
Thy  vesture  keeps  its  bloody  hue, 
Thou  stand' st  the  ever-slaughtered  Lamb, 
Thy  priesthood  still  remains  the  same." 

What  Christ  had  done  for  him  upon  the  cross 
he  believed  was  done  equally  for  all  men,  so  that 
all  men  were  called  to  the  same  grace  and  might 
be  partakers  of  the  same  salvation  he  had  found. 


THE   ITINERANT  MINISTER.  53 

He  did  not  believe  that  God  had  given  any  man 
that  dehisive  freedom  which  woidd  make  men 
justly  responsible  for  a  life  of  universal  obedience 
to  the  will  of  God,  and  yet  witliheld  from  them 
that  special  and  gracious  call  (always  given  to  the 
elect)  witliout  which  they  wovdd  not,  even  though 
they  could  be,  saved.  From  him  we  hear  no 
dreadful  phrases  about  God  "  saving  all  he  wisely 
can."  He  thinks  God  would  not  be  love  to  such 
lost  soids.  Writing  to  Miss  Peck,  he  states  these 
views  at  some  length  :  — 

"  Love  to  God  is  something  that  can  be  felt  in  the 
soul,  something  that  Satan  himself  cannot  counterfeit. 
If  you  have  this  genuine  love,  you  know  it.  Do  not, 
my  dear,  suffer  the  enemy  to  harass  and  disturb  you  on 
account  of  your  motives  in  loving  God.  None  but  a 
good  motive  can  induce  you  to  love  God  in  his  true 
character.  Any  motive,  then,  that  leads  to  this,  lay 
hold  of.  Is  your  soul  melted  into  tenderness  and  love 
while  contemplating  what  the  Saviour  has  done  for  you  ? 
Is  your  soul  transported  with  delight  from  a  view,  by 
faith,  of  an  expected  paradise  ?  Let  these  be  motives 
to  draw  you  on  to  love  and  obedience.  This  will  bring 
you  nearer  to  God.  .  .  . 

"  On  the  subject  of  loving  God  '  for  what  he  is  in 
and  of  himself,'  you  have  quoted  a  passage  which  seems 
to  convey  the  idea  that  we  ought  to  and  can  love  God 
even  if  he  does  not  love  us.  According  to  my  view,  I 
could  no  more  love  a  God  that  did  not  love  me  than 
reconcile  the  widest  contradictions." 

In  writing  to  another  friend  he  tells  her :  — 


64  WILBUR  FISK. 

"  The  Tempter  would  make  you  believe,  if  he  could, 
that  yours  is  a  partial  God  ;  that  he  has  a  few  choice 
blessings,  which  he  bestows  upon  individuals,  —  pi"each- 
ers,  perhaps,  and  a  few  others,  —  but  they  cannot  be 
obtained  by  all.  Believe  him  not ;  he  is  dishonoring 
your  God  by  such  a  suggestion." 

To  his  Aunt  Palmer  lie  wrote :  — 

"  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,  to 
professor  or  non-professor ;  those  who  have  been  once 
renewed  and  those  who  never  were  renewed ;  Jew  or 
Gentile,  barbarian  or  Scythian ;  worthy  in  their  own 
estimation,  or  unworthy ;  rich  or  poor,  sick  or  well :  all 
must  come  to  Christ  in  the  same  manner,  and  as  to 
their  rights  are  on  an  equality,  only  with  this  excep- 
tion: those  that  see  themselves  the  most  wretched,  their 
case  the  most  difficult,  themselves  the  most  unworthy, 
their  wants  the  most  pressing,  have  the  best  claim,  and 
are  the  fittest  vessels  for  the  Saviour  to  show  his  mercy 
in.  Dear  aunt,  let  me  exhort  you  to  take  Christ  for 
your  alV 

It  can  easily  be  understood  tliat  a  ministry  be- 
gun under  such  auspices  as  marked  the  beginning 
of  Mr.  Fisk's  at  Charlestown  must  of  necessity 
be  a  fruitful  ministry.  Such  diligence  in  gen- 
eral study,  such  careful  preparation  for  preaching, 
such  unsparing  pastoral  visitation,  such  a  sense  of 
the  priceless  value  of  souls,  such  a  feeling  of  the 
shortness  of  time  and  the  solemnity  of  its  due  em- 
ployment, and  such  rich  and  living  experience  of 
Christ's  salvation,  must  have  given  that  ministry 
a  unique  character.     And  so  it  really  was.     His 


THE  ITINERANT  MINISTER.  65 

congregations  grew  steadily  larger;  there  were 
many  conversions,  and  some  inquirers  after  the 
hio-hest  life,  whom  he  trained  with  the  most  con- 
scientious  fidelity.  A  single  sermon  in  a  strange 
pulpit  was  sometimes  made  instrumental  in  the 
conversion  of  souls ;  for  he  was  diligent  in  aiding 
other  pastors  in  revival  services,  or  in  holiness 
meetings.  On  Charlestown  bridge  he  one  day  fell 
in  with  a  boyish  fish-seller.  Mr.  Fisk  bowed  to 
him,  asked  his  name,  and  kept  his  eye  upon  him, 
until  the  two  had  become  acquainted.  Learning 
that  the  boy  was  neglecting  to  go  to  church, 
notwithstanding  his  mother's  advice  and  exam- 
ple, he  invited  the  lad  to  come  to  his  church  in 
Charlesto\^ii.  For  this  bright-eyed  boy,  whether 
on  the  bridge  or  in  church,  Mr.  Fisk  always  had 
a  bow,  a  smile,  or  a  pleasant  and  earnest  word. 
So  began  the  fascination  of  Isaac  Rich  for  Wilbur 
Fisk,  and  so  it  came  that  Mr.  Rich  left  nearly  all 
his  great  estate  to  educational  objects  in  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  There  was  a  universal  demand  for 
Mr.  Fisk's  return  to  Charlestown  the  second  year, 
and  he  was  accordingly  returned. 

He  attended  the  commencement  exercises  of 
Brown  University,  and  received  the  degTee  of 
A.  M.  in  1820. 

Under  all  circumstances,  Wilbur  Fisk  labored 
bravely  on,  seeking  to  make  full  proof  of  his  min- 
istry. He  had  gone  quite  beyond  the  bounds  of 
reasonable  prudence  in  his  untiring  exertions  in 
doing  good.     He  preached  three  times  a  Sunday 


66  WILBUR  FISK. 

and  two  or  three  times  a  week.  Every  night  he 
was  at  some  religious  meeting,  and  his  afternoons 
were  devoted  to  pastoral  calls.  This  was  sinning 
against  light,  too,  since  he  had  already  suffered 
from  a  cough,  from  severe  catarrhs  and  hem- 
orrhages. In  November,  1820,  he  had,  what  he 
should  have  expected,  a  severe  hemorrhage  of  the 
lungs.  Instead  of  preaching,  he  was  laid  up  from 
work  all  winter;  he  had  five  hemorrhages,  and 
kept  his  chamber  until  March.  The  i^hysicians 
gave  him  up  to  die,  his  father  came  to  see  him 
depart  to  a  better  world,  and  all  chance  of  life 
had  failed. 

"  But  on  the  very  night  when  his  friends  were  gath- 
ered around  his  bed  expecting  every  moment  to  be  his 
last,  his  church,  with  the  churches  in  Boston,  including 
some  of  other  denominations,  were  engaged  in  solemn 
and  importunate  prayer  for  his  recovery.  The  meet- 
ings were  called  with  special  reference  to  his  case  ;  and 
He  who  said  the  prayer  o£  faith  shall  save  the  sick,  re- 
buked the  disorder.  His  symptoms  began  to  improve 
from  that  night.  Mr.  Fisk  always  believed  that  he  was 
raised  up  in  answer  to  prayer." 

Let  us  trust  and  hope  so,  with  good  Dr.  Holdich. 
But  the  Lord  was  sore  displeased  with  Wilbur 
risk  for  the  cruel  and  irreligious  way  in  which  he 
treated  his  own  body.  Had  he  or  anybody  else 
treated  a  beast  with  half  the  severity  with  which 
this  educated,  devout,  and  sanctified  person  treated 
his  own  body,  temple  of  the  Holy  Gliost  though 
it  was,  he  might  have  been  brought  to  trial  for 


THE  ITINERANT  MINISTER.  67 

habitual  cruelty,  and  convicted  he  certainly  would 
have  been.  It  is  evident  that  the  Lord  had  set  his 
face  sternly  against  the  sin  of  Wilbur  Fisk  in  the 
matter,  as  we  may  see  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
just  barely  suffered  to  escape  alive.  If  the  Lord 
did,  in  the  crisis  of  threatened  death,  turn  back  the 
power  of  disease,  one  should  not  forget  that  the 
cure  stopped  at  a  point  where  the  patient's  condi- 
tion was  a  sort  of  standing  warning  against  any 
more  such  desperate  madness  of  zeal  for  the  fu- 
ture. Had  it  pleased  Him,  His  power  might  have 
strenjrthened  the  enfeebled  frame  so  that  Wilbur 
risk  might  have  gone  back  to  his  delightful  em- 
ployment at  once.  But  He  visibly  meant  to  utter 
a  vehement  protest  against  any  more  such  sins 
against  one's  physical  frame.  First,  notice  the 
fact  that  this  eloquent  preacher,  this  gifted  and 
sanctified  spirit,  was  not  allowed  for  two  years  to 
speak  a  word  from  the  pulpit.  He  was  obliged  to 
go  home,  to  give  up  reading,  and  to  keep  in  the 
open  air,  to  ride  on  horseback  up  and  down  his 
native  mountains,  to  diet  carefully,  to  swallow  ob- 
noxious drugs,  to  feel  many  a  fear  that  he  never 
shoidd  get  weU,  or  that  his  future  condition  would 
never  aUow  him  to  preach  again.  Of  course,  Mr. 
Fisk  was  not  conscious  that  he  was  setting  his  face 
against  the  wiU  of  God  by  his  excesses  in  labor, 
and  so  he  did  not  have  the  pangs  of  a  guilty  con- 
science to  endure.  In  fact,  he  seems  a  little  more 
at  ease  about  his  conduct  than  was  desirable.  Thus 
he  writes  to  Mrs.  Goodwin,  one  of  his  Charlestown 
friends :  — 


58  WILBUR   FISK. 

"You  recollect,  in  our  Minutes  of  Conference,  we 
have,  among  others,  this  question  :  '  Who  have  died  this 
year  ?  '  Then  follow  the  names  of  our  deceased  breth- 
ren. In  this  catalogue,  if  you  are  careful  to  read  it 
over  year  after  year,  you  will  find,  ere  long,  the  name 
of  your  much-obliged  friend,  Wilbur  Fisk.  To  the 
short  account  that  may  there  be  given,  you  may  add 
with  your  pencil  this  :  His  early  departure  excited  in 
his  breast  but  one  regret,  which  was,  that  he  had  to 
leave  the  war  before  the  cause  of  truth  obtained  a  sig- 
nal triumph." 

It  was  not  until  May,  1822,  that  Mr.  Fisk  re- 
sumed preaching.  Yet  he  dared  not  assume  the 
burdens  of  the  pastoral  office  that  year.  After  the 
next  September,  there  was  such  a  sudden  and 
marked  improvement  in  his  health,  that  he  took 
up  the  cares  and  duties  of  the  pastor's  calling  in 
room  of  a  preacher  who  had  been  compelled  to 
drop  his  work.  Finding  by  actual  trial  that  he 
was  now  fully  equal  to  the  duties  of  his  vocation, 
he  thought  best  to  marry  the  lady  to  whom  he  had 
been  engaged,  through  good  health  and  through 
poor  health,  for  seven  years.  This  was  Miss  Ruth 
Peck,  of  Provddence.  Prior  to  the  marriage,  he 
seems  to  have  known  her  chiefly  by  correspondence, 
and  possibly  that  mode  of  procedure  was  somewhat 
discredited  by  its  results  in  this  instance.  This 
event  in  his  personal  history  was  entered  upon  in 
a  sensible  and  religious  spirit,  for  he  wrote  to  his 
betrothed  a  few  days  before  their  marriage  :  ^  — 

1  The  marriage  occurred  June  9,  1823. 


THE  ITINERANT  MINISTER.  59 

"  It  is  my  ardent  prayer  that  Christ  would  unite  us 
to  Himself,  as  the  branch  is  united  to  the  vine  ;  that, 
while  we  may  love  each  other  with  pure  hearts  fervently 
we  may  love  Him  supremely  ;  and  have,  above  all 
things,  an  experimental  knowledge  of  that  mystical  union 
that  exists  between  Christ  and  His  church,  so  that  here- 
after, when  Christ  shall  come  to  take  home  His  weary 
bride,  you  may  go  into  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb, 
and  there  be  met  by  your  unworthy  but  truly  affectionate 

"W.  FiSK." 

The  belief  is  a  deeply  rooted  one,  both  at  "VVil- 
braliam,  where  the  Eisks  resided  five  years,  and  at 
Middletown,  where  they  lived  nine  years,  that  this 
was  not  the  happiest  of  marriages.  Wilbur  Fisk 
won  everybody's  approval  as  a  son,  brother,  son-in- 
law,  friend,  and  counselor ;  so  that  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  he  would  be  strictly  and  even  gener- 
ously attentive  to  all  his  conjugal  duties.  Indeed, 
no  suspicion  of  fault  or  defect  in  his  conduct  in 
that  sacred  relation  has  ever  gone  abroad ;  and 
if  there  had  been,  Mrs.  Fisk  constantly  speaks  in 
her  letters  of  his  faultless  and  chivalrous  devotion 
to  her  as  compared  wdth  that  of  ordinary  husbands. 
For  the  forty-five  years  of  her  widowhood  she  told 
the  same  story.  Was  this  unhappy  tradition  true 
or  false  ?  One  who  has  heard  it  from  his  boyhood 
up  is  rather  apt  to  read  their  correspondence  with 
the  aim  of  getting  at  the  truth.  There  are  passages 
in  Mrs.  Fisk's  letters  to  her  husband  that  might 
be  construed  as  illustrations  of  its  verity.  Eleven 
months  after  the  marriage,  he  was  absent  five  or 


60  WILBUR  FISK. 

six  weeks,  attending  the  General  Conference  at 
Baltimore,  when  Mrs,  Fisk  writes  from  Lyndon, 
May  29th,  saying  :  — 

"  The  belief  that  you  sincerely  love  me,  even  though 
now  far  separated,  gives  a  zest  to  all  my  duties,  and 
lightens  all  my  trials.  But,  AVilbur,  I  often  feel  that  I 
am  unworthy  of  it  ;  and  when  supplicating  my  Heavenly 
Father  to  grant  me  the  qualifications  I  need  to  deserve 
it,  with  streaming  eyes  do  I  beseech  Him  to  grant  you 
all  that  patience  you  need  to  bear  with  me.  Could  tears 
wash  my  infirmities,  weaknesses,  and  errors  from  mem- 
ory, they  would  be  obliterated." 

There  are  people  to  whom  such  language  will 
seem  confirmation  strong  as  Holy  Writ  of  the 
suspicions  entertained  against  Mrs.  Fisk.  If  the 
habit  of  accepting  petitions  at  the  throne  of  grace 
in  room  of  affidavits  should  spread  among  biog- 
raphers, it  would  add  a  new  terror  to  communion 
with  God,  and  be  an  effective  persuasion  to  irreli- 
gion.  And,  besides  this,  the  lady's  letters  to  other 
people,  even  when  dealing  with  less  weighty  sub- 
jects than  personal  faults,  are  rather  apt  to  be 
lachrymose  and  pyrotechnical  in  their  rhetoric, 
without  any  great  provocation.  If  these  jealous 
suspicions  had  any  justification  in  fact,  certainly 
the  conduct  of  Wilbur  Fisk  deserves  our  admira- 
tion. He  made  nobody  a  confidant  of  his  troubles, 
made  no  complaint  to  others,  sought  no  sympathy 
from  others ;  and  when  his  wife  carelessly  made 
friends  or  strangers  eye-witnesses  or  ear-witnesses 
of   her  vexation,  treated  all    such   facts    as    non- 


THE  ITINERANT  MINISTER.  61 

existent.  In  all  his  intercourse  with  her,  in  all  his 
references  to  her,  in  all  his  letters  to  her,  he  made 
much  of  her  virtues  and  nothing  of  her  faults.  In 
all  the  letters  I  have  read,  not  one  personal  defect 
is  mentioned,  while  this  or  that  good  quality  is 
generously  lauded.  It  is  only  when  one  reflects  on 
the  things  and  virtues  which  are  not  praised  by  a 
husband  so  ready  to  commend,  that  one  realizes  how 
truthful  as  well  as  generous  this  correspondence 
is.  Had  Ruth  Fisk  been  like  Lyman  Beecher's 
heavenly  -  minded  Roxana,  her  husband's  praises 
would  have  been  as  unstinted  and  comprehensive 
as  Beecher's.  What  love  letters  such  a  lover  as 
Wilbur  Fisk  might  have  been  would  have  left  be- 
hind for  our  wonder ! 

In  his  last  intercourse  with  her  on  earth,  there 
was  the  like  generous  appreciation  of  his  wife's  vir- 
tues, merits,  and  exceptional  exposure  to  trouble. 
She  was  overwhelmed  with  sorrow  when  told  that 
his  death  was  at  hand.  In  taking  his  final  leave 
of  the  professors  of  Wesleyan  University,  among 
other  things  it  is  said  :  — 

"  He  commended  his  afflicted  wife  to  their  care  and 
sympathy,  observing,  '  I  believe  she  has  added  years  to 
my  life  by  her  constant  care  and  nursing.  You  will  love 
her  for  my  sake  when  I  am  gone.'  The  wife  of  one  of 
the  professors  assured  hira  they  had  done  so,  and  would 
do  so  still." 

The  way  in  which  this  promise  was  kept  to  Dr. 
Fisk's  widow  is  a  signal  instance  of  his  power  to 


62  WILBUR   FISK. 

influence    others.      The    decease  of   her   husband 
left  Mrs.    risk  with  only  her  venerable    mother 
and  an  adopted  daughter,  Martha.    Presently  they 
both  had  followed  Dr.  Fisk  to  the  grave.     There 
were  visits  paid  by  Mrs.  Fisk  to  the  parents  and 
sister  of  her  departed  husband,  at  Lyndon ;  but  as 
the  elder  Fisks  soon  became  too  much  broken  in 
health  to  travel  much  themselves,  and  too  depen- 
dent upon  the  care  of  their  only  surviving  child  to 
admit  of  her  leaving  them  to  themselves  on  such 
journeys,  there  were  few  and  infrequent  visits  at 
first;  and  soon  none    at  all  were    possible.     For 
some  reason,  the  Peck  kinsmen  were  never  known 
to  visit  Mrs.  Fisk  after  her  widowhood  ;  so  that 
she  was  thrown   very  greatly  upon   the  kindness 
and  sympathy  of  her  Middletown  friends  for  so- 
ciety and  aid.      It  became  one  of  the  unwritten 
laws  of  the  Wesleyan  University  faculty  that  they 
must  aU  have  a  part  in  taking  care  of  Mrs.  Fisk. 
A  son  of  one  of  those  families  once  said  :  "  I  was 
brought  up  at  home,  so  that  I  always  felt  that  I 
must  always  look  out   for  our   family  and  Mrs. 
Fisk.     It  was  so  with  every  boy  or  girl  that  be- 
lons'ed  to  that  set  of  households.     She  was  the 
common  care  of  them  all." 

Of  course,  it  was  natural  for  people  who  had 
been  linked  together  so  long  and  so  pleasantly  as 
the  professors  of  Wesleyan  University  had  been 
with  Wilbur  Fisk,  to  show  personal  kindness  to 
his  widow ;  but  they  did  something  far  better  than 
that,  since  they  made  it  such  a  point  of  honor  and 


THE   ITINERANT  MINISTER.  63 

pride  to  show  her  kindness  that,  when  the  last  as- 
sociate in  the  faculty  of  Dr.  Fisk  had  disappeared 
from  Middletown,  she  was  just  as  faithfully  re- 
garded as  ever.  As  she  grew  older,  she  either 
would  not  have  or  could  not  keep  any  servant  with 
her  long.  She  grew  too  feeble  to  attend  to  her 
own  wants,  but  was  reluctant  to  abandon  the  little 
house,  at  a  corner  of  the  college  grounds,  which 
had  become  her  home  on  her  husband's  death. 
There  some  member  of  the  faculty  families  daily 
saw  that  she  had  her  food  for  meals  ;  her  errands 
about  town  done  ;  her  coal,  wood,  and  water  abun- 
dantly at  hand.  Sometimes  students  made  it  their 
daily  care  to  do  anything  she  wished  done,  all 
through  their  college  life.  In  some  respects  she 
was  a  spoiled  child  to  the  last ;  for  nobody  could 
be  certain  of  satisfying  her  in  such  humble  offices 
and  services.  The  affecting  part  of  her  situation 
was,  that  she  lived  only  in  and  to  her  husband's 
memory.  She  knew  little  about  the  strange  world 
which  had  grown  up  around  her,  and  had  no  in- 
terest in  later  generations  save  as  they  were  some- 
how related  to  her  husband's  career. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    EDUCATOR.  —  WESLEYAN    ACADEMY. 

When  Wilbur  Fisk  was  invited  to  become  prin- 
cipal of  Wesleyan  Academy  at  Wilbraham,  Mass., 
his  pious  mother  urged  him  for  the  sake  of  his  own 
soul  not  to  accept  the  new  work.  She  appealed 
to  his  own  experience  in  such  matters.  Had  he 
not  declined  in  his  interest  in  rehgious  truth  and 
spirituality  of  life  while  he  was  a  student  in 
Peacham  Academy,  and  continued  in  a  backslid- 
den condition  during  all  his  successive  connections 
with  the  University  of  Vermont  and  Brown  Uni- 
versity? He  could  not  challenge  the  truth  of  her 
assertions,  but  he  did  deny  that  he  had  been  under 
any  compulsion  to  backslide  at  school  or  college, 
and  affirmed  that  schools  and  colleges  coidd  be  so 
organized  and  managed  as  to  make  them  intensify 
instead  of  deadening  the  piety  of  the  students. 
This  was  one  of  his  most  serious  purposes  in  all 
his  career  as  an  educator.  Nay,  he  maintained 
that  such  schools  and  colleges  might  be  made  hot- 
beds of  revival  influence. 

In  this  opinion,  Mrs.  Fisk  represented  the  pre- 
vailing \'iew  in  the  churches  of  all  orders.  How 
did  the  churches  of  that  period  come  to  have  so 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEY  AN  ACADEMY.       65 

poor  an  opinion  of  tlie  colleges  of  the  country  ?  In 
these  times,  such  an  idea  could  only  be  founded  on 
ignorance  of  the  actual  condition  of  the  coUeges, 
and  could  be  refuted  with  an  overwhelming  array 
of  argument  and  illustration.  At  that  period,  not 
only  did  pious  and  intelligent  people  in  all  the 
churches  cherish  such  ideas  about  coUeges,  but 
spiritually-minded  clergymen  of  all  denominations 
shared  this  notion.  We  know  how  powerfid  were 
the  influences  of  unbelief  and  secularity  at  Har- 
vard, since  they  at  last  swept  her  wholly  away 
from  her  moorings  to  the  faith  of  the  fathers,  and 
made  her  the  disseminator  of  Unitarianism.  We 
know  that  at  Brown  University  the  same  leaven 
of  unbelief  was  at  work. 

In  his  essay  on  "  Prayer  for  Colleges,"  Profes- 
sor Tyler,  of  Amherst  CoUege,  has  shown  that  this 
state  of  things  was  not  peculiar  to  this  college  or 
that,  but  was  universal.  We  quote  some  details  as 
to  the  condition  of  Yale  CoUege  :  — 


'» 


"  It  was  a  period  of  declension  in  the  churches  also, 
and  of  infidelity  and  immorality  in  the  country,  when 
the  disastrous  effects  of  our  own  Revolutionary  War 
(we  mean,  of  course,  the  moral  and  religious  effects), 
and  still  more  of  the  French  Revolution,  infected,  like 
a  plague,  all  classes  of  the  people.  ...  In  1795  only 
eleven  undergraduates  are  known  to  have  been  profes- 
sors of  religion  ;  about  four  years  after,  the  number 
was  reduced  to  four  or  five  ;  and  at  one  communion  only 
a  single  undergraduate  was  present,  the  others  being 
out  of  town.     A  survlvins:  member  of  the  class  of  1783 


66  WILBUR  FISK. 

remembers  only  three  professors  of  religion  in  the  class 

of  1782,  and  only  three  or  fom-  each  in  several  of  the 
y     preceding  classes.     In  his  own  class,  which  was  blessed 

with  a  revival,  there  were  eleven.  In  the  dai'kest  time, 
^      just  at  the  close  of  the  century,  there  was  only  about 

one  professor  of  religion  to  a  class.     The  state  of  things 

was  even  worse  in  the  churches." 

When  Lyman  Beeclier,  wlio  belonged  to  the 
class  of  1797,  speaks  of  the  religious  state  of  the 
college,  we  get  the  graphic  touches  of  an  ear  and 
eye  witness  :  — 

"  Before  Dr.  Dwight  came,  college  was  in  a  most  un- 
godly state.  The  college  church  was  almost  extinct. 
Most  of  the  students  were  skeptical,  and  rowdies  were 
plenty.  Wine  and  liquors  were  kept  in  many  rooms  ;  in- 
temperance, profanity,  gambling,  and  licentiousness  were 
common.  I  hardly  know  how  I  escaped.  Was  invited 
to  play,  once,  in  a  class-mate's  room.  I  did  so  and  won. 
Next  day  I  won  again,  then  lost,  and  ended  in  debt.  I 
saw  immediately  whereunto  that  would  grow  ;  obtained 
leave  of  absence,  went  home  for  a  week,  till  cured 
of  that  mania,  and  never  touched  a  card  afterward. 
That  was  the  day  of  the  infidelity  of  the  Tom  Paine 
school.  Boys  that  dressed  flax  in  the  barn,  as  I  used  to, 
read  Tom  Paine,  and  believed  him ;  I  read  and  fought 
him  all  the  way.  Never  had  any  propensity  to  infidel- 
ity. But  most  of  the  class  before  me  were  infidels,  and 
called  each  other  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  D'Alembert." 

Hence  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  religious 
condition  of  the  American  colleges  themselves,  in 
the  disheartening  period  between  the  acknowledg- 


THE  EDUCATOR  —  WESLKYAN  ACADEMY.       67 

ment  of  our  independence  and  1820,  was  such  as 
to  justify  the  fear  that  they  fostered  impiety  and 
irrehgion.  This  evident  fact  was  enough  to  make 
many  Methodists  reluctant  to  send  their  sons  to 
be  educated  where  they  would  be  in  danger  of  los- 
ing their  spirituality.  There  was  another  source 
of  danger  for  Methodist  students  in  the  colleges  of 
the  land,  since,  even  if  they  did  retain  their  piety, 
they  would  be  likely  to  lose  their  antipathy  to  Cal- 
vinism and  enter  the  ministry  of  other  churches. 
Wilbur  risk's  chum  at  Brown  University  thought 
Methodists  fanatics,  and  in  this  he  represented  the 
universal  sentiment  of  New  England.  Still  the 
Methodists  could  not  well  hesitate  about  founding 
schools  of  their  owti,  since  they  saw  the  best  and 
ablest  of  their  youth  entering  the  schools  and  col- 
leo:es  of  other  churches. 

As  all  the  colleges  of  the  land  were  under  the 
direction  of  their  theological  foes,  the  need  became 
very  urgent  that  they  should  establish  colleges  of 
their  own  for  the  school  -  training  of  those  who 
would  have  such  training  somewhere.  Nay,  it  was 
plain  that  no  church  could  perform  its  proper  work 
for  the  country  which  should  leave  the  education 
of  its  young  people  in  the  hands  of  its  theological 
adversaries.  Still  it  was  only  the  clearest-sighted 
who  coidd  adequately  realize  how  great  would  be 
the  advantages  of  making  Methodist  colleges  the 
peers  of  the  best  in  endowments  and  opportuni- 
ties, while  keeping  them  full  of  revival  influences. 
Yet  these  few  had  been  able  to  impress  their  senti- 


68  WILBUR  FISK. 

ments  on  tlie  New  England  Conference  so  deeply 
that,  in  1816,  action  was  taken  by  that  body  to  se- 
cure the  establishment  of  a  literary  institution  in 
New  England. 

The  New  Market  Academy  was  founded  at  this 
time  by  the  New  England  Annual  Conference. 
It  was  after  much  previous  discussion  that  a 
preachers'  club,  which  met  at  New  Market,  N.  H., 
resolved  to  secure  the  establishment  of  a  Meth- 
odist Academy  at  once.  New  Market  was  a  pleas- 
ant, healthy,  and  moral  place.  Besides,  it  was  the 
residence  of  Rev.  John  Brodhead,  a  man  of  mark  in 
New  England  Methodist  circles,  a  good  preacher, 
a  wise  counselor,  a  man  who  more  than  once  had 
represented  his  party  in  the  State  Senate,  and  his 
district  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington. His  great  influence  made  him  a  pioneer 
in  the  establishment  of  the  New  Market  Academy. 
But  the  local  pledges  of  the  New  Market  people 
to  the  school  never  were  fully  redeemed,  so  that  a 
general  subscription  was  made  mainly  by  the  min- 
isters. Thus  was  raised  $755.  The  largest  smn 
was  paid  by  Rev.  Martin  Ruter,  $80. 

A  small  building  was  erected  for  school  use. 
The  conference  was  to  provide  a  preceptor  for  five 
years ;  the  receipts  were  to  be  at  its  disposal ;  the 
salary  was  not  to  exceed  $500.  There  was  some 
opposition  to  the  plan  in  the  body ;  but  the  lead- 
ers, like  Soule,  Hedding,  Brodhead,  Merritt,  and 
Pickering,  overbore  all  resistance.  The  scheme 
was  adopted  at  the  session  of  1817. 


THE  EDUCATOR  —  WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.       69 

The  first  teacher  was  Mr.  Moses  White,  a  Meth- 
odist, a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Vermont, 
pious  and  able.  Ten  pupils  were  on  hand  the  first 
day,  and  seventeen  more  before  the  term  ended. 
They  were  largely  day  scholars,  like  any  country 
academy,  with  a  conference  attachment.  From  the 
start,  both  sexes  were  educated  together.  The 
tuition  paid  Mr.  White's  salary  of  $400. 

A  board  of  trustees  was  incorporated  by  the 
New  Hampshire  legislature  in  Jmie,  1818.  On 
Jrdy  10  the  first  trustee  meeting  was  held.  Amos 
Binney  was  chosen  president,  and  Daniel  Filmore 
secretary.  The  board  of  trustees  was  to  lay  the 
whole  situation  of  the  school  before  the  conference 
at  every  session,  and  annual  visitors  were  sent  to 
examine  the  school,  and  report  on  all  its  concerns 
to  the  conference.  The  following  course  of  study 
was  adopted:  Class  I.,  Keading,  Writing,  and 
English  Grammar ;  Class  XL,  Geography  and 
Astronomy  ;  Class  III.,  Latin,  Greek,  and  French ; 
Class  IV.,  Mathematics  and  the  Rudiments  of 
Natural  Philosophy ;  Class  V.,  The  Hebrew  and 
Chaldee  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  Greek  of 
the  New;  Class  VL,  Divinity,  Logic,  Rhetoric, 
and  Moral  Philosophy. 

This  ambitious  course  of  study  was  quite  be- 
yond the  range  of  Mr.  White's  scholarship,  and 
pointed  to  a  new  leader  to  execute  this  broad  but 
ill-digested  scheme  of  study.  Accordingly,  Mar- 
tin Ruter,  pastor  of  St.  George's  Church  in  Phila- 
delphia, a  self-made  man  like  Asbury  and  Lee, 


70  WILBUR  FISK. 

was  chosen  president.  He  was  a  man  who  had  de- 
voted himself  to  extended  lines  of  study.  Mr.  Ru- 
ler was  a  very  popular  and  very  influential  pastor. 
His  election  was  thought  to  be  certain  to  be  very 
advantageous  to  the  school.  It  not  only  drew 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Ruter's  personal  friends,  but 
also  that  of  the  church,  to  an  institution  until  then 
comparatively  unknown  to  the  public.  It  did 
look  like  new  life  for  the  school  to  see  eighty  stu- 
dents enrolled  the  first  day.  Many  had  come 
from  States  outside  New  England,  for  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  the  institution,  attracted  by  the 
fame  of  Ruter  for  learning  and  eloquence.  And 
he  deserved  his  fame.  The  first  revival  of  reli- 
gion visited  the  school  soon  after  the  new  princi- 
pal came.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  talk  about 
profound  scholarship,  high  ideals  were  urged,  and 
every  man  began  to  look  as  though  he  knew  twice 
as  much  as  he  did  know.  Not  even  Theodore 
Parker  in  his  palmiest  days  could  swallow  dowTi  a 
whole  language  and  literature  more  expeditiously 
and  crudely  than  they. 

Mr.  Ruter  was  a  dreamer  of  dreams.  Soon  he 
hoped  to  create  full-fledged  preparatory  schools, 
—  a  full-grown  coUege,  with  law  schools,  theologi- 
cal schools,  and  medical  schools.  What  has  been 
the  work  of  seventy  years,  he  hoped  to  achieve  in 
ten.  Such  plans  were  doomed  to  failure.  As  a 
teacher  his  success  was  only  moderate,  and  that 
must  have  been  a  sore  personal  disajipointment 
after  his  brilliant  career  in  the  pastorate.     At  the 


TEE  EDUCATOIi.—  WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.       71 

General  Conference  of  1820,  Dr.  Ruter  was  elected 
book  agent.  The  fact  that  he  accepted  this  of- 
fice shows  that  the  sense  of  his  own  defects  as 
an  educator  and  of  the  visionary  character  of  his 
dreams,  had  been  brought  home  to  him  in  his 
brief  service  at  New  Market.  For  with  his  in- 
tense conviction  of  the  necessity  of  education  and 
of  educational  institutions,  Mr.  Ruter  would  have 
had  every  motive  for  remaining  in  the  educational 
work  which  moved  Wilbur  Fisk  twice  to  decline  a 
bishopric  that  he  might  devote  his  life  to  a  higher 
work.  Mr.  Ruter  was  seK-denying  and  unworldly 
enough  to  have  clung  to  so  noble  a  work,  had  not 
the  conviction  come  over  him  that  tliis  high  honor 
was  held  in  reserve  for  another  brow. 

With  Mr.  Ruter's  resignation  vanished  all  the 
high  hopes  of  many  preparatory  schools,  a  full- 
bloAvn  college,  and  professional  schools.  Discour- 
agement set  in,  numbers  fell  off,  and  the  trustees 
had  only  a  plain  little  academy  on  their  hands 
where  poor  Moses  White  and  an  assistant  had 
been  doing  what  little  true  educational  work  had 
been  going  on  at  New  Market  Academy.  From 
that  date  deficits  grew  larger  and  students  grew 
fewer,  until  the  only  w^ay  to  keep  things  alive  was 
to  raise  money  in  the  churches.  The  finishing- 
stroke  was  given  when  the  conference  refused  to 
open  the  pulpits  of  that  body  to  the  agents  of  the 
Academy.  Various  expedients  were  resorted  to 
in  the  vain  hope  of  infusing  fresh  vigor  into  the 
school.     The  last  two  terms,  but  twenty  students 


72  '  WILBUR  FISK. 

were  in  attendance.  Wilbur  Fisk  was  asked  to 
do  something  for  the  school,  but  refused  to  do  so 
while  the  institution  stayed  at  New  Market. 

To  Wilbraham  it  was  finally  determined  to  re- 
move the  institution,  notwithstanding  efforts  had 
been  made  in  favor  of  Rochester,  N.  H.,  Lynn, 
Mass.,  and  Ellington,  Conn.  The  chief  reasons 
urged  for  the  removal  were  these  :  in  the  former 
location  the  school  was  surrounded  by  the  best 
and  largest  schools  in  the  country,  while  at  Wil- 
braham it  would  find  no  near  competitors,  as  this 
was  long  before  the  founding  of  the  schools  at 
Easthampton,  Northfield,  and  South  Hadley.  As 
this  was  a  school  where  both  sexes  were  to  be 
educated  together,  there  was  good  reason  for  ex- 
pecting a  larger  patronage  from  the  vicinage  than 
at  New  Market.  It  was  hoped  that  the  school  at 
Wilbraham  might  be  attended  by  students  fi-om 
the  Middle  States  much  more  largely  than  would 
be  the  case  at  the  former  site. 

In  Sherman's  "History  of  Wesleyan  Academy" 
we  read :  — 

"  Rev.  J.  A.  Merrill  was  the  occasion  of  the  selection 
of  Wilbraham  as  the  site  of  the  Academy.  As  Presid- 
ing Elder  of  the  New  London  District,  in  which  Wil- 
braham was  included,  he  was  at  the  house  of  Rev. 
Calvin  Brewer,  a  local  2)reacher  of  the  charge,  in  the 
summer  or  early  autumn  of  1823,  in  company  with  the 
Rev.  Phineas  Peck,  who  resided  at  Wilbraham  and 
supplied  the  pulpit.  Attention  was  drawn  to  the  Acad- 
emy at  New  Market,  which  led  Mr.  Merrill,  himself  a 


THE  EDUCATOR.  -WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.       73 

trustee,  to  observe  tliat  the  conference  at  its  last  session 
had  taken  action  in  favor  of  its  removal  to  a  locality 
adapted  to  secure  a  larger  attendance  of  students.  Mr. 
Brewer  asked  what  he  thought  of  Wilbraham.  Mr. 
Merrill  replied  that  he  could  say  nothing  officially,  but 
if  the  inhabitants  wished  it,  and  would  make  the  proper 
exertions  for  it,  he  thought  the  matter  covdd  be  accom- 
plished." 

After  the  Wilbraham  people  had  communicated 
with  the  New  Market  trustees,  and  learned  their 
views  through  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peek,  things  took 
a  new  start  amongst  them.  They  were  greatly 
pleased  with  the  prospect  of  a  literary  institution 
in  their  village  ;  and  arrangements  were  at  once 
made  to  enlarge  the  amount  of  their  subscriptions. 
To  secure  this  desirable  end,  twelve  subscription 
papers  were  prepared  and  put  in  circulation  in 
the  town  and  immediate  vicinity  by  various  hands. 
The  chief  solicitor,  however,  was  the  Rev.  Calvin 
Brewer,  who  had  begun  the  work  prior  to  the  ac- 
tion of  the  trustees  in  regard  to  location  ;  but  the 
work  was  taken  up  and  nobly  seconded  by  other 
parties  interested  in  the  success  of  the  enterprise. 
On  the  twelve  papers,  as  reported  to  the  trustees 
in  January,  1825,  the  round  sum  of  $2,693  was 
pledged  for  the  erection  of  the  new  building  or 
buildings.  This  was  thought  to  be  a  liberal  sum, 
and  was,  in  fact,  much  more  than  they  at  first  an- 
ticipated obtaining.  The  people,  though  not  always 
able  to  give  large  sums,  were  found  quite  ready 
to  respond  to  this  unusual  call ;  and  this  was  true 


74  WILBUR   FISK. 

as  well  of  many  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church  as  of  those  of  the  Methodist,  evincing 
their  deep  interest  in  education,  and  the  breadth 
of  their  charity  in  aiding  a  sect  with  which,  in 
earUer  years,  they  had  not  always  maintained  the 
pleasantest  relations.  Nor  were  the  contributions 
confined  to  members  or  attendants  of  the  churches ; 
many  added  their  mites  who  were  connected  with 
no  church. 

The  Rev.  John  Lindsay,  then  a  resident  of  Bos- 
ton, had  procured  the  passage  of  an  act  of  incor- 
poration for  the  new  institution  by  the  legislature 
of  Massachusetts,  which  received  the  governor's  ap- 
proval, February  7,  1824.  The  first  trustees  were 
Amos  Binney,  Abel  Bliss,  Abraham  Avery,  Calvin 
Brewer,  Enoch  Mudge,  Jr.,  Wilbur  Fisk,  Joshua 
Crowell,  William  Rice,  and  John  Lindsay.  The 
first  meeting  of  the  new  board  was  held  at  Mr. 
Lindsay's  house  in  Boston,  February  19,  1824. 
Colonel  Binney  was  made  the  first  president  and 
Abel  Bliss  the  first  secretary  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees. 

Rev.  John  Lindsay,  as  financial  agent,  had  raised 
$3,511.67  ;  Rev.  Wilbur  Fisk  had  obtained  1303  ; 
Rev.  George  Pickering  $780  ;  making,  with  the 
$1,000  received  from  the  New  Market  trustees  and 
$2,693  subscribed  at  Wilbraham,  $8,287.67. 

These  subscriptions  were  far  from  what  would 
have  been  needed  to  meet  the  expenses  for  erect- 
ing a  suitable  series  of  buildings  ;  for  a  properly 
organized  school  would  require  a  school  building 


THE  ED  UCA TOR.  —  WESLE  TAN  A CA DEM  Y.       75 

proper,  a  boarding-house,  a  residence  for  the  prin- 
cipal, besides  two  or  three  special  structures  for 
carrying  out  the  plans  of  some  of  the  trustees. 

The  local  committee  certainly  did  select  the  very 
best  spot  for  the  academy  on  all  the  long  Wilbra- 
ham  street,  as  anybody  can  see  who  surveys  it  with 
a  critical  eye.  The  first  building  is  thus  described 
by  Dr.  Sherman :  — 

"  The  Board  decided  to  build  of  brick,  sixty-five  feet 
by  thirty-five,  two  stories  high,  ten  and  twelve  feet  each 
high,  divided  into  one  large  and  two  small  rooms,  one 
large  hall,  forty-one  by  thirty-five  feet,  and  four  draw- 
ing rooms,  above,  with  two  flights  of  stairs,  the  basement 
story  to  be  eight  feet  deep  with  stairway  at  each  end, 
for  wood,  with  the  necessary  doors  and  windows.  At  a 
later  date  the  committee  were  instructed  to  erect  a  suit- 
able cupola,  and  to  '  use  their  discretion  '  in  grading  the 
grounds  about  the  new  building." 

It  was  intended  to  have  the  Academy  building 
done,  and  ready  for  school  operations  in  Septem- 
ber, 1825  ;  but  this  was  not  the  case  until  Novem- 
ber. Meanwhile  they  elected  Wilbur  Fisk  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Academy,  on  the  28th  of  September 
1825,  with  power  to  appoint  such  instructors  as 
he  may  deem  expedient,  and  that  he  be  requested 
to  give  notice  that  the  Academy  w^ill  be  opened 
for  the  reception  of  pupils  on  or  before  the  first 
Monday  in  November  next,  and  that  he  prepare  a 
proper  code  of  rules  and  regulations,  and  a  proper 
course  of  studies  to  be  pursued  by  the  scholars,  fix 
the  price   of  quarterage,  and  the  price  of   board 


76  WILBUR  FISK. 

with  the  inhabitants,  until  the  boarding-house  is 
provided  and  opened,  and  that  he  write  advising 
with  the  steward,  and  direct  and  provide  the  fur- 
niture necessary  for  the  boarding-house. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  was  not  only  a  great 
deal  of  work  to  be  done  in  connection  with  the  es- 
tablishment and  organization  of  the  new  institu- 
tion, but  a  large  confidence  in  the  executive  ability 
of  Mr.  risk,  since  otherwise  they  would  not  have 
given  him  such  unlimited  control.  This  action 
shows  that  the  board  of  trustees  had  not  yet  learned 
how  to  do  its  own  work.  But  this  reliance  upon 
Mr.  risk's  discretion  and  practical  skill  gave  him 
a  chance  to  show  his  high  abiHty  in  this  untried 
field.  On  his  advice,  the  trustees  procured  the 
services  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Dunn,  Jr.,  a  graduate 
of  Bowdoin  College,  as  teacher.  Mr.  Dunn  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
was  anxious  to  enter  the  new  institution.  He  had 
excellent  testimonials  both  to  his  scholarship  and 
character.  He  was  to  teach  the  classics  and  other 
branches.  As  Principal  Fisk  could  not  yet  give 
his  undivided  attention  to  his  duties  at  Wilbra- 
ham,  the  chief  direction  of  the  school  would  de- 
volve upon  Mr.  Dunn  until  the  ensuing  session  of 
the  New  England  Conference,  when  the  presiding 
eldership  of  the  Vermont  district  could  be  trans- 
ferred to  other  hands. 

The  trustees  determined  to  signalize  the  open- 
ing day  of  the  school  by  public  exercises,  whose 
chief  feature  should  be  an  address  by  Principal 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEY  AN  ACADEMY.        77 

risk.  Presiding  Elder  Fisk  was  so  busy  on  his 
official  rounds  of  duty  that  he  could  only  spare 
Principal  Fisk  the  odd  moments  which  could  be 
picked  up  while  in  a  chaise  on  his  journeys.  Then 
Mrs.  Fisk  would  officiate  as  driver,  and  her  hus- 
band would  turn  his  hat  into  a  writing-desk  for 
the  penning  down  of  his  well-considered  inaugural. 
What  did  he  say  ?  This :  that  the  lecture-mon- 
gers, who  pretended  to  teach  some  of  the  broadest 
and  most  diversified  branches  in  a  few  fleetins; 
hours,  were  simply  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  They 
gave  their  patrons  only  the  vaguest  and  most  su- 
j)erficial  ideas  of  subjects  which  could  be  mastered 
only  by  diligent  and  protracted  study.  This  part 
of  the  speech  would  not  be  without  its  striking  ap- 
plications to  our  own  times. 

In  reply  to  the  allegation  that  the  method  and 
system  of  the  scholar  in  the  distribution  of  time 
are  artificial  and  ill-adapted  to  the  contingent  pur- 
suits of  life,  he  says  :  — 

"  The  merchant  has  his  regular  mode  of  doing  busi- 
ness, notwithstanding  the  variations  of  the  market,  and 
his  different  successes  and  losses.  The  mariner  has  his 
regular  course,  and  his  fixed  system  of  making  his  cal- 
culations, and  established  rules  by  which  he  turns  to 
the  best  possible  advantage  all  the  contrary  winds  and 
shifting  currents  In  his  voyage.  Indeed,  the  changes 
and  adversities  to  which  he  is  subject  make  it  the  more 
necessary  that  he  should  proceed  by  rule.  Without  this 
he  would  be  the  sport  of  every  wind,  and  be  driven  from 
his  course  by  every  current.     So  without  system  in  the 


78  WILBUR   FISK. 

voyage  of  life,  the  mind  of  man  will  be  driven  out  of 
its  course  and  away  from  its  object  by  all  the  various 
changes  of  time.  Instead,  therefore,  of  excusing  ourselves 
from  a  systematic  employment  of  time,  on  the  ground  of 
the  varieties  of  life,  this  should  be  the  very  motive  to 
incite  us  to  a  close  adherence  to  rule  and  method,  that 
we  may  make  the  most  of  a  short  and  changing  life." 

A  somewhat  detailed  discussion  of  the  relation 
of  atliletic  sports  to  the  health  and  happiness  of 
students  follows,  setting  forth  their  great  impor- 
tance to  a  well-rounded  education.  But  even  such 
things  should  be  "guarded  and  regulated  with 
care  by  the  instructor ;  who,  like  a  father,  should 
watch  over  his  charge,  in  season  and  out  of  sea- 
son, regulating  their  recreations  as  well  as  their 
studies." 

To  the  objection  that  education  unfitted  people 
for  the  practical  duties  of  life,  he  made  answer, 
"  That  the  experience  of  our  common  schools  con- 
victed this  plea  of  error.  Such  education  as  was 
there  given  fitted  men  for  a  better  discharge  of 
e very-day  duty.  Why  should  not  more  education 
still  produce  the  like  effect  on  the  same  persons 
that  it  did  before  ?  " 

Finally,  the  orator  of  the  day  approached  the 
most  serious  difficulty  of  all,  the  alleged  immoral- 
ity and  irreligion  of  the  schools.  There  the  stu- 
dent "  Meets  the  filthy  conversation  of  the  wicked, 
and  learns  to  blaspheme.  He  meets  the  debauchee, 
and  learns  incontinency  ;  he  meets  the  jovial  com- 
panion, and  indulges  the  social  glass ;   he  meets 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEY  AN  ACADEMY.        79 

with  the  caviling  infidel,  and  learns  to  sneer  at 
religion.  In  short,  he  leaves  the  university  more 
learned,  but  frequently  more  corrupted,  if  not 
wholly  ruined." 

Is  there  any  way  to  prevent  this  ?  Can  we 
guard  scholars  with  securities  equal  to  those  they 
enjoy  at  home?  Doubtless  we  can.  Nay,  it  is 
believed  that  a  public  seminary  may  be  governed 
and  regulated  upon  a  plan  such  as  will  better 
g-uard  the  habits  and  morals  of  scholars  than  they 
are  usually  guarded  in  our  common  schools,  where 
the  children  are  a  part  of  the  time  under  the  pa- 
rental roof.  They  should  be  under  the  immediate 
control  of  the  instructors,  who  will  be  able  to  guard 
their  morals  out  of  school  as  well  as  during  hours 
of  instruction. 

"  Not  only  should  the  pupil  be  guarded  from  expos- 
ure to  temptation  ;  but  morality  and  religion  should  be 
made  a  part  of  liis  instruction.  The  youth  sent  from 
home  to  a  literary  institution  usually  has  much  less  re- 
ligious instruction  than  before.  When  in  his  father's 
house,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  family  he  enjoyed 
the  means  of  grace  and  the  pastoral  ser\dces  of  the 
minister.  Now,  if  he  mingles  in  the  congregation  of  the 
place,  he  goes  as  a  stranger  and  returns  as  a  stranger. 
Unless,  therefore,  he  is  taught  morality  and  religion  by 
his  instructors.  It  may  be  said,  no  one  cares  for  his  soul. 
How  important,  then,  that  he  should  be  taught  these 
by  those  to  whose  immediate  care  his  education  is  in- 
trusted. 

"  By  religious  instruction  is  not  meant  teaching  the 
peculiar  tenets  of  a  party.     Literary  institutions  should 


80  WILBUR  FISK. 

not  be  prostituted  to  the  low  purposes  of  proselytism. 
This  wouhl  not  be  to  make  Christians,  but  bigots.  But 
those  leading  principles  of  religion  should  be  inculcated 
which  are  calculated  to  make  the  heart  better ;  and 
those  practical  precepts  which  regulate  the  life.  Nor 
should  these  be  impressed  on  the  young  mind  in  an 
arbitrary  and  austere  manner.  The  ground  and  pro- 
priety of  what  is  enjoined  should  be  explained.  Our 
religion  is  a  reasonable  service,  and  this,  its  true  char- 
acter, should  be  exhibited  to  the  young  as  soon  as  their 
reason  begins  to  dawn ;  and  in  this  way,  through  all  the 
succeeding  stages  of  religious  instruction,  should  the  re- 
quirements and  sanctions  of  the  divine  government  be 
illustrated  until  they  commend  themselves  to  the  under- 
standing and  conscience." 

After  defining  in  this  wise  and  catholic  spirit 
the  scope  of  the  new  academy,  Mr.  Fisk  left  the 
school  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Dunn,  while  he  re- 
turned to  the  duties  of  his  presiding  eldership  of 
the  Vermont  district.  The  full  term  only  lasted 
four  weeks,  and  only  seven  students  were  present 
in  all.  During  the  winter  term  the  attendance, 
drawn  from  the  place  and  its  vicinity,  ran  uj)  to 
forty-four,  while  during  the  year  one  hundred  and 
four  students  belonged  to  the  school.  Tuition  was 
low :  the  charge  for  English  studies  was  i3 ; 
for  astronomy  and  higher  mathematics,  $3.50  ;  for 
Latin  and  Greek,  14;  for  ornamental  branches, 
!|5.  The  price  of  board  was  11.25  per  week. 
We  are  again  reminded  of  the  three  chief  aims  of 
the  trustees,  —  first,  to  make  their  education  good ; 
second,  to  make  it  cheap ;  and  third,  to  make  it 


THE  EDUCATOR— WESLETAN  ACADEMY.       81 

religious.  Here  it  miglit  be  thought  that  the 
second  aim  had  been  carried  out  so  effectively  as 
to  render  the  first  impossible.  For  a  time,  Wilbur 
risk  only  accepted  the  ordinary  meagre  salary  of 
a  Methodist  preacher  while  performing  the  duties 
of  his  principalship,  and  a  part  of  the  time  he 
acted  as  pastor  of  the  local  church,  when  he  drew 
no  pay  from  the  funds  of  the  academy.  Mr. 
Dunn's  salary  was  |400  a  year  and  board.  Yet 
these  small  salaries  did  not  necessarily  mean  very 
great  hardship.  Fifteen  years  earlier  (in  1810) 
Lyman  Beecher  asked  the  presbytery  for  a  dis- 
mission from  East  Hampton,  Long  Island,  on 
account  of  insufficient  support.  The  presbytery 
wished  Mr.  Beecher  to  look  the  matter  over,  and 
report  to  them  upon  what  sum  he  could  projaerly 
support  his  family  of  seven  persons.  He  replied 
that  if  all  arrearages  were  once  paid,  he  could 
live  on  -1500  a  year.  Such  things  must  be  borne 
in  mind  in  estimating  the  scale  of  prices  at  Wil- 
braham. 

They  had  four  terms  a  year,  beginning  on  the 
first  Monday  of  September,  December,  March, 
and  June,  There  were  six  weeks  of  vacation  in 
summer.  Among  the  text-books  used  were  Ad- 
ams's Latin  Grammar,  Goodrich's  Greek  Gram- 
mar, Liber  Primus  and  Jacob's  Greek  Reader, 
Stoughton's  Virgil,  Clark's  Introduction  to  Mak- 
ing Latin,  Blake's  Natural  Philosophy,  Com- 
stock's  Chemistry,  Day's  Algebra,  Blair's  Rhet- 
oric, Hedge's  Logic,  IngersoU's   English    Gram- 


82  WILBUR  FISK. 

mar,  Walker's  Dictionary,  and  Scott's  Lessons  for 
Reading. 

Wilbur  risk  was  appointed  to  the  position  of 
principal  at  Wilbraham  at  the  Conference  of  1826, 
and  henceforth  could  give  his  undivided  attention 
to  that  task.  He  removed  his  family  to  Wilbra- 
ham in  May,  1826.  This  one  work  was,  however, 
in  reality  a  manifold  one.  He  was  everybody's 
adviser  who  had  responsible  connection  with  the 
work  of  the  school.  He  filled  his  projDer  office  of 
principal  with  painstaking  fidelity  and  skill.  This 
alone  would  have  overtaxed  the  powers  of  an  ordi- 
nary man.  Colonel  Binney  was  the  only  member 
of  the  board  of  trustees  who  had  ever  filled  such 
an  office.  His  skill  and  his  money  gifts  made  his 
services  invaluable.  But  his  residence  was  about 
a  hundred  miles  away  from  Wilbraham,  so  that  he 
could  not  be  consulted,  even  if  his  private  business 
would  have  yielded  time,  for  guiding  school  affairs. 
Hence  upon  the  new  principal  fell  the  full  burden 
of  planning  the  business  to  be  presented  to  the 
board,  getting  it  into  the  wisest  shape  for  adoption, 
arguing  the  case  so  as  to  carry  the  body  with  him, 
and  then  executing  the  work  assigned  him  with 
such  tact  and  spirit  as  to  compel  approval.  He 
always  had  the  unflagging  assistance  of  the  board 
of  trustees  in  all  his  work.  Gradually  he  trained 
them  to  perform  their  duties  with  such  spirit  and 
self-devotion  that  when  he  ceased  to  be  active  in 
their  affairs,  their  courage  and  wisdom  and  gen- 
erosity constantly  opened  the  way  to  a  higher  use- 
fulness for  the  honored  academy. 


THE  EDUCATOR.  —WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.         83 

The  steward  was  as  new  to  his  duties  as  the 
other  officers  of  the  institution.  Mr.  Fisk  was 
very  careful  in  the  selection  of  the  best  persons 
within  reach  for  all  such  positions,  and  then  he 
was  accessible  to  them  at  all  times  when  a  word 
of  counsel,  of  direction,  or  of  encouragement  was 
wanted.  He  was  so  fully  convinced  that  the  su- 
preme test  of  any  school  was  the  quality  of  the 
instruction  imparted  that  he  took  every  possible 
safeguard  to  procure  the  best  possible  instruction. 
He  was  fortunate  in  securing,  in  most  cases,  very 
competent  persons  for  this  work.  He  corresponded 
with  Stephen  Olin,  then  a  rising  young  man  in  the 
church,  and  afterward  Dr.  Fisk's  most  eminent 
successor  at  Middletown.  Had  not  Mr.  Olin  been 
under  engagement,  he  would  have  begun  his  teach- 
ing at  Wilbraham,  Mr.  Dunn,  the  first  classical 
teacher  at  Wilbraham,  was  from  the  start  a  very 
successful  instructor.  He  gave  the  most  of  his  life 
to  teaching,  and  always  justified  the  high  reputa- 
tion he  gained  at  Wilbraham.  The  first  precep- 
tress, in  charge  of  the  girl's  department,  was  Miss 
Caroline  Tillinghast,  of  Providence,  R.  I.  She  was 
a  lady  of  very  superior-education,  quiet  and  refined 
manners,  of  a  profoundly  religious  temper,  whose 
graces  had  been  exercised  and  developed  by  a  re- 
markably diversified  career.     She  evidently  had 

' '  A  heart  at  leisure  from  itself 
To  soothe  and  sympathize." 

Mr.  Fisk  not  only  took  indefatigable  pains  to 
obtain  the  most  competent  men  for  teachers,  but 


84  WILBUR   FISK. 

he  had  the  most  remarkable  skill  for  getting  out 
of  every  man  liis  best  work.  This  was  partly  the 
natural  effect  of  his  own  example.  Nobody  could 
be  more  unwearied  than  he  in  his  endeavors  to 
do  his  very  best.  Whether  he  was  preaching  a 
sermon,  hearing  a  class,  advising  a  teacher,  stu- 
dent, or  the  steward,  his  whole  heart  and  soul 
went  into  the  work  on  hand.  Such  an  example 
in  a  principal  is  contagious,  and  sure  to  breed  a 
like  spirit  in  others.  How  much  pains  he  would 
sometimes  take  is  shown  in  the  following  incident 
narrated  by  Dr.  Holdich  :  — 

*'  At  a  certain  time  when  the  school  was  in  need  of  an 
additional  teacher,  and  one  just  suited  could  not  be  found, 
he  selected  a  young  minister,  but  indifferently  qualified, 
and  that  he  might  appear  before  his  classes  with  credit 
regularly  heard  him,  in  his  own  hours  of  relaxation, 
through  every  lesson."  ^ 

Then  he  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  hopefulness 
about  him  wherever  he  went.  This  was  partly  the 
natural  fruit  of  his  temperament,  but  not  wholly 
so.  His  friends  in  college  days,  like  Goidd  and 
Taft,  agree  that  there  was  always  a  vein  of  sadness 
and  melancholy  about  his  mind  ;  and  Fisk  himself 
says  that  these  characteristics  did  not  leave  him 
wholly  and  forever  until  that  notable  blessing  at 
the  Wellfleet  camp-meeting.  Then  Giant  Despair 
and  he  parted  forever.  But  no  matter  when  or 
how  he  won  it,  he  had  a  heart  of  sunshine  in  him, 
and  a  hopeful  face  always. 

1  Life  of  Wilbur  Fisk,  p.  180. 


THE  EDUCATOR.—  WESLEY  AN  ACADEMY.        85 
"  His  summer"  did  "  last  all  the  year." 

Such  undecaying  hopefulness  of  temper  made  it 
easy  for  others  to  work  with  him  and  enjoy  the 
most  difficult  w^ork.  For  surely  this  Methodist 
parson-saint  could  say  as  Tennyson's  Sir  Galahad 

"  My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten 
Because  my  heart  is  pure." 

It  would  be  comparatively  easy  for  a  person 
like  Mr.  Fisk  to  govern  a  large  school  such  as 
Wilbraham  Academy  soon  grew  to  be  under  the 
new  auspices.  The  basis  of -all  good  government 
in  such  a  school  must  be  respect  for  the  regulations 
of  the  school  and  a  deferential  obedience  to  the 
officers  thereof.  In  Mr.  Fisk's  time  there  was  no 
lack  of  the  usual  arrangements  for  good  and  even 
strict  discipline.  For  the  more  difficult  cases  they 
had  a  prison,  and  for  the  worst,  the  utterly  incor- 
rigible, there  was  a  dungeon.  The  prison  was  a 
room  furnished  only  with  a  hard  bed,  a  single  chair, 
and  a  naked  table  ;  the  dungeon  was  a  room  with 
clean  straw  scattered  over  the  floor.  The  fare  of 
these  prisoners  was  not  such  as  to  tempt  them  to 
intemperance.  A  brief  seclusion  in  these  cheer- 
less rooms  usually  broke  the  resolution  of  the  most 
rebellious.  On  some  occasions  public  whipping 
was  resorted  to.  This  whipping  was,  as  Arnold  of 
Rugby  would  always  have  it,  severe  enough  to  do 
its  work  effectually.  At  Wilbraham,  it  was  rather 
the  publicity  than  the  severity  of  the  castigation 
that  was  found  effectual.  Wilbur  Fisk  usually 
inflicted  these  whippings  himself  ;  for  his  sincere 


86  WILBUR  FISK. 

kindness  and  strict  self-control  made  it  safer  not 
to  intrust  such  disagreeable  duties  to  subordinates. 
Hence  lie  sometimes  found  himself  in  circumstances 
where  it  required  all  his  coolness  to  face  success- 
fully a  ridiculous  situation.  Once,  when  his  pa- 
tience had  been  tried  beyond  all  endurance,  he 
told  the  offender  to  be  ready  for  a  whipping  after 
prayers  the  next  morning.  The  victim  prepared 
himself  accordingly,  and  the  first  blows  of  the  rat- 
tan  fell  ineffectually  upon  the  student's  shoulders. 
Then  the  principal  ordered  the  removal  of  the 
overcoat.  A  smaller  overcoat  was  found  under  the 
first.  That,  too,  was  ordered  off.  Then  the  whip- 
ping was  resumed,  to  no  purpose,  for  the  crafty 
youngster  had  concealed  under  his  waistcoat  a 
thick  pasteboard  atlas,  on  which  the  blows  rained 
harmlessly.  "  What  on  earth  did  you  get  your- 
self up  that  way  for  ?  "  asked  the  smiling  master. 
"  You  told  me  to  come  prepared  for  a  whipping, 
sir,  and  I  thought  I  had  better."  By  this  time 
the  school  was  in  a  roar,  and  the  whipping  was 
very  brief. 

However,  punishment  was  not  often  resorted  to 
in  the  school  management.  Mr.  Fisk  was  a  manly 
man,  and  he  aroused  a  like  spirit  in  others,  and 
his  bearing  tended  to  call  out  manliness  in  stu- 
dents. His  appeals  were  always  addressed  to  the 
nobler  side  of  the  young  people.  He  sought  al- 
ways to  get  them  to  recognize  the  principles  of 
self-respect,  high-mindedness,  and  personal  honor 
in  their  relations  to  each  other  and  the  authorities 


THE  EDUCATOR.-   WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.       87 

of  the  sehool.  All  his  influence  was  thrown  pow- 
erfully against  those  practices  lay  which  students 
are  encoviraged  in  loose  and  low  views  of  their 
duties  to  each  other.  That  was  before  the  days 
of  the  temperance  reformation,  so  that  one  of  the 
things  against  which  he  had  constantly  to  guard 
was  the  opening  of  places  where  wine,  beer,  and 
ardent  spirits  could  be  purchased.  Under  such  a 
state  of  things  any  school  principal  who  keeps  his 
eyes  open  to  what  men  are  doing  around  him,  and 
who  can  command  the  respect  and  assistance  of 
the  town  opinion,  becomes  a  wall  of  defense  to  his 
school.  This,  Mr.  Fisk  rarely  failed  to  do  and 
to  be.  To  one  hardened  offender,  whose  avarice 
had  tempted  him  to  induce  certain  students  to 
run  up  forbidden  and  unreasonable  bills  at  his 
store,  he  wrote,  "  Sir,  I  never  shall  pay  such  bills, 
and  the  parents  wiU  never  pay  them  if  I  can  hin- 
der it." 

One  of  the  pecuhar  features  of  Wilbraham 
school-life  was  the  "  Social  Interview."  As  the 
school  was  made  up  of  young  people  of  both  sexes, 
Mr.  Fisk  thought  it  desirable  that  they  should  be 
trained  to  social  life  under  wisely  regidated  princi- 
ples. Hence  all  the  officers  of  the  school  used  to 
meet  with  all  the  students  in  a  large  room.  Here, 
after  tea  had  been  served,  they  were  expected  to 
engage  in  conversation  on  whatever  topics  they 
pleased ;  though  de\dces  were  resorted  to  from 
time  to  time  to  prevent  the  same  persons  from 
monopolizing  each   other's   company.     The  object 


88  WILBUR  FISK. 

of  the  Interview  was  to  break  up  shyness  and  self- 
absorption,  and  induce  easy  and  refined  manners 
in  social  life. 

One  point  of  great  practical  importance  in  the 
plans  was  the  securing  good  and  cheap  board.  It 
was  thought  that  for  a  while  board  might  be  ob- 
tained in  the  families  of  the  village  at  such  low 
rates  as  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  students. 
Such  families  as  had  boarders  entered  into  an  agree- 
ment not  to  charge  more  than  il.25  a  week  for  it. 
But  it  was  obvious  to  all  that  this  resource  could 
not  safely  be  depended  upon.  The  place  was  not  a 
large  one,  so  that  trouble  might  easily  arise  either 
by  some  families  asking  too  high  a  rate,  or  by  some 
declining  to  offer  board  at  all.  In  either  case 
there  would  have  been  perplexity.  Should  the 
school  increase  according  to  the  hopes  of  its  foun- 
ders, there  would  some  time  be  hundreds  in  attend- 
ance. Then  it  was  thought  that  the  gathering  of  a 
large  number  of  students  of  both  sexes  in  one  large 
boarding  hall,  under  the  direction  of  the  steward 
and  teachers,  would  tend  in  many  ways  to  the  devel- 
opment of  a  unified  school-life  and  the  production 
of  a  home  atmosphere.  Hence  the  trustees  pur- 
chased Warriner's  Hotel  of  its  owners,  directly 
across  the  road  from  the  school-buildings.  In  this 
way,  after  the  hotel  had  been  considerably  remod- 
eled and  enlarged,  they  were  always  able  to  afford 
astonishingly  cheap  rates  of  board  in  view  of  its 
quality ;  so  that  when  three  hundred  and  fifty 
students  resorted  to  the  school,  board  was  as  good 


THE  EDUCATOR.  —  WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.      89 

and  cheap  as  ever.  The  large  dining-room  after- 
wards became  the  scene  of  the  week-day  prayer- 
meeetings,  over  which  the  principal  always  pre- 
sided, and  where  many  a  soul  was  won  to  Christ. 

At  a  later  date  the  trustees  built  a  house  for  the 
use  of  the  principal,  and  a  plain  structure  for  the 
use  of  students  interested  in  the  mechanic-arts  de- 
partment. After  a  while  the  boarding-house  proved 
too  strait  to  accommodate  all  the  students  who  de- 
sired entertainment  there,  and  so  it  became  needful 
to  enlaro-e  it  and  to  make  the  most  of  all  the  room 
they  had.  Such  an  advance"  in  numbers  of  neces- 
sity compelled  the  employment  of  more  teachers. 
William  Magoun,  an  alumnus  of  Brown  Univer- 
sity, was  associated  with  jVIr.  Dunn  in  the  work  of 
instruction.  At  times  the  services  of  Joel  Knight 
and  of  David  Patten,  Jr.,  were  secured  for  some 
of  the  more  elementary  branches  of  study.  When 
the  first  preceptress.  Miss  Charlotte  L.  Tilhnghast, 
gave  up  her  duties,  in  consequence  of  her  mar- 
riage to  her  associate  in  teaching,  Mr.  Dunn,  the 
position  was  taken  by  Miss  Susan  Brewer,  a  sister 
of  the  Rev.  Calvin  Brewer  of  Wilbraham,  a  lady 
of  high  character  and  various  accomplishments. 
These  names  complete  the  roll  of  the  members  of 
the  academy  faculty  in  Dr.  Fisk's  day. 

Somewhat  perplexing  to  the  trustees  was  this 
remarkable  growth  of  their  institution  in  numbers 
and  popularity.  For  they  were  compelled  to  re- 
spond to  these  indications  of  prosperity  by  a  bold 
and  liberal  policy.     With  them  it  was  the  day  of 


90  WILBUR  FISK. 

financial  small  things  ;  one  man,  Colonel  Binney, 
gave  110,000  ;  but  the  next  largest  gift  was  |175 
by  Abel  Bliss,  and  from  $150,  the  next  largest 
subscription,  the  gifts  ran  all  the  way  clown  to  ten 
cents.  The  chief  collector  was  the  Rev.  John  Lind- 
say, and  at  times  Wilbur  Fisk  and  Rev.  George 
Pickering  also  acted  as  collectors.  The  conference 
passed  resolutions  opening  every  pulpit  within  their 
bounds  to  the  agents  of  the  trustees,  and  sometimes 
they  appointed  special  collectors  besides.  The 
ministers  preached  sermons  on  the  subject.  They 
circulated  subscription  paj^ers  intended  to  reach 
all  their  people,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor ; 
not  a  child  was  unsolicited.  Gifts  from  without 
were  welcome,  and  sometimes  such  outside  gifts- 
enabled  the  principal  to  make  a  very  effective  ap- 
peal to  the  careless  or  niggardly  in  the  Methodist 
congregations,  as  we  see  from  his  article  in  "  Zion's 
Herald  "  :  — 

EKA    OF   GOOD    FEELING. 

"  A  cii'cumstance  occurred,  during  a  late  tour  in  Ver- 
mont and  New  Hampshire  to  solicit  donations  for  Wes- 
leyan  Academy,  which  I  deem  worthy  of  public  notice. 
I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Colonel  B.  of  Hanover 
(Dartmouth  College),  N.  H. ;  and  as  I  hardly  supposed 
the  peojile  of  that  villlage  would  be  disposed  to  do  much 
towards  the  object  of  my  mission,  I  had  designed  to 
call  on  the  colonel,  and  then  go  on  my  journey.  In 
conversation  with  the  Rev.  William  W.,  Congregational 
minister  in  N.,  I  mentioned  my  design,  and  he  sug- 
gested the  propriety  of  my  calling  upon  other  citizens  in 


THE  EDUCATOR.—  WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.       91 

Hanover,  and  especially  upon  the  officers  of  the  college, 
and  kindly  offered  to  be  my  company,  and  introduce  me 
to  such  gentlemen  as  he  thought  would  be  favorable  to 
my  object.  This  vpas  accordingly  agreed  upon,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  few  hours,  the  next  day,  we  received 
subscriptions  in  that  small  village  to  the  amount  of 
seventy-five  dollars.  Most  of  the  officei-s  of  the  college, 
including  the  president,  became  subscribers,  and  seemed 
to  wish  success  to  the  institution.  The  donations  them- 
selves were  not  more  gratifying  than  the  spirit  in  which 
they  were  given.  No  captious  questions  were  asked,  no 
long  complaints  were  made  by  those  who  gave  ;  though 
complaints  might  have  been  made  with  propriety  at  that 
time,  if  ever,  by  the  good  people  of  Hanover.  They 
had  but  a  little  before  completed  a  fund  of  $10,000  for 
their  own  college,  of  which  a  generous  part  had  been 
subscribed  in  that  village,  and  but  just  before  about 
$1,000  had  been  collected  in  that  place  for  a  religious 
charity  by  Mr.  C.  of  S.,  and,  in  addition,  they  had  just 
undertaken  to  raise  a  fund  of  $50,000  for  their  own  col- 
lege, $5,000  of  which  had  been  subscribed,  or  would  be 
subscribed,  in  Hanover.  In  the  midst  of  this  almost  un- 
paralleled levy  of  public  benevolences,  they  gave  $75  to 
an  institution  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  them, 
under  the  patronage  of  another  denomination,  and  of 
which,  until  that  day,  they  had  probably  had  but  little 
knowledge. 

"  I  call  this  at  least  one  good  proof  that  the  present 
is  an  era  of  good  feeling.  When  men  of  different  de- 
nominations and  of  different  local  interests  in  literary 
seminaries  unite  their  valuable  efforts  with  the  men  of 
other  denominations  and  other  local  interests  to  aid  the 
common  cause  of  religion  and  of  science,  we  may  expect 


92  WILBUR  FISK. 

such  a  holy  alliance  will  drive  sin  and  error  from  the 
field  :  an  alliance  this,  which  can  only  exist  among  men 
of  enlarged  and  noble  minds. 

"  Another  reflection  grows  out  of  the  above  facts, 
viz.  :  that  men  are  not  the  less  willing  to  give  because 
they  are  often  solicited  and  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
giving.  As  in  Hanover,  so  I  believe  it  will  be  found 
in  other  places,  that  where  the  objects  for  public  charity 
are  the  oftenest  presented,  there  their  importance  is  most 
considered,  and  the  duty  of  giving  is  best  understood. 
The  yoke  of  benevolent  duties,  where  it  is  taken  and 
worn,  is  easy,  and  the  burden  thereof  becomes  light.  It 
is  the  man  who  seldom  gives  that  chafes  and  complains 
most  when  requested  to  give.  It  has  been  intimated  by 
some  of  our  ministerial  brethren  that,  unless  we  cease 
our  public  and  private  solicitations  for  charity,  we  shall 
sour  our  people,  and  drive  them  from  us.  This,  how- 
ever, I  believe,  is  a  mistake.  If  we  are  careful  to  solicit 
only  for  worthy  objects,  and  if  we  prudently  expend  the 
public  charities  intrusted  to  us,  we  need  not  fear.  AVe 
have  been  too  fearful  of  calling  upon  our  people  to  aid 
in  the  great  works  of  benevolence  of  the  present  day,  and 
this  is  why  we  are  so  doubtful  of  their  willingness  to  give. 
Are  Methodist  Christians  different  from  other  Christians 
in  their  dispositions  and  feelings  ?  If  they  are,  Method- 
ism has  made  them  to  differ,  for  it  has  selected  its  ad- 
herents from  the  same  mass  of  jiojjulation  with  the  other 
denominations.  Are  we  prepared  to  acknowledge  that 
that  modification  of  Christianity  which  maintains  a  uni- 
versal atonement,  and  offers  a  free  salvation  to  the  whole 
human  family,  has  a  tendency  to  lock  up  the  soul  of  him 
who  believes  it  within  the  narrow  walls  of  self  ?  Shall 
those  who  believe  in  perfect  love  to  God  and  man,  in  com- 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.        93 

plete  deadness  to  the  world,  in  the  entire  subjugation 
of  the  unholy  and  earthly  passions,  be  accounted  less  ac- 
cessible to  the  pleas  of  benevolence  and  to  the  claims  of 
charity  than  other  Christians  ?  It  cannot  be.  Method- 
ism is  a  benevolent  religion.  It  makes  high  professions 
of  consistency,  as  well  as  of  that  charity  which  '  seeketh 
not  its  own.'  Frequent  appeals  for  laudable  charities  to 
men  under  the  influence  of  such  a  religion  cannot  drive 
them  from  us,  but  draw  them  to  us  by  the  strongest 
cords  of  attachment.  We  may,  indeed,  irritate  the  feel- 
ings of  those  who  have  connected  themselves  with  us, 
not  because  they  have  any  peculiar  attachment  for  us, 
but  because  they  think  ours  a  cheap  religion.,  and  that 
they  can  live  with  us  without  paying  for  it.  Such  men 
ought  to  be  disturbed.  They  have  hung  upon  us  like 
dead  weights,  and  been  sponging  around  our  ecclesias- 
tical gates  long  enough.  If  they  will  not  reform,  it  is 
no  matter  how  soon  they  leave  us.  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
no  one  else  will  receive  them.  The  least  we  ought  to 
do  to  such  narrow,  covetous  minds  is  to  make  them 
uneasy  everywhere.  Such  souls  will  never  be  admitted 
to  the  heavenly  feast  in  their  present  state,  for  there  will 
not  be  found  a  wedding-garment  in  the  vestiy  of  heaven 
to  fit  them  —  they  are  all  too  large  ;  and  they  ought  to 
have  no  seat  at  the  table  of  the  church  below.  But,  thank 
God,  the  great  body  of  the  IMethodists  are  not  such.  If 
they  are  deficient  in  their  public  charities,  it  is  chiefly 
because  their  attention  has  not  been  often  enough  called 
to  these  subjects,  and  their  importance  and  necessity 
have  not  been  sufficiently  set  before  them. 

"  But  I  will  close  this  article  by  adding  that  the 
seminary  at  Wilbraham,  for  which  the  above-mentioned 
subscriptions  were  received,  will  succeed  and  prosper, 


94  WILBUR  FISK. 

unless  its  more  immediate  patrons  are  greatly  want- 
ing to  themselves.  With  the  best  wishes  of  other  de- 
nominations, and  even  with  their  pecuniary  aid  in  its 
favor ;  with  a  large  and  increasing  number  of  students 
and  a  prosperous  beginning,  all  that  is  now  wanted  is  a 
united  effort  at  this  time  to  relieve  it  of  its  present  em- 
barrassments, and  a  steady  perseverance  in  its  support. 
But  if  a  few  be  left  to  groan  and  toil  under  the  burden 
till  they  faint  and  give  over,  it  shall  be  to  our  shame 
and  confusion,  if  not  to  our  overthrow.  Let  us,  then, 
urged  on  by  the  good  example  and  encouraging  aid  of 
others,  show  by  our  works  that  we  are  what  we  profess 
to  be,  the  supporters  of  a  liberal  and  enlightened  system 
of  truth.  W.  FiSK. 

"WiLBRAHAM,  March  21,  1827." 

Let  US  look  at  the  religious  side  of  life  at  the 
Wesleyan  Academy.  The  students  were  required 
to  attend  morning  and  evening  prayers  in  the  school, 
and  attendance  at  one  of  the  village  churches  was 
expected  on  Sundays.  If  a  student  were  disposed, 
he  might  attend  the  Tuesday  evening  sermon  or 
lecture  in  the  dining-hall ;  there  was  a  general 
prayer-meeting  on  Thursday  evening,  and  a  reli- 
gious class-meeting  to  which  those  needing  religious 
counsel  and  direction  could  resort.  Attendance 
on  these  week-day  meetings  was  strictly  voluntary. 
In  Dr.  Fisk's  day  the  Tuesday  evening  lecture 
or  sermon  was  well  attended ;  for  the  principal 
used  to  discourse  upon  some  theme  announced  be- 
forehand, so  that  those  who  liked  might  study  the 
topic  for  themselves.      These  discourses  were  so 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEY  AN  ACADEMY.        95 

impressive  tliat  the  seats  were  usually  all  full. 
Dr.  Fisk  was  very  urgent  that  these  regular  means 
of  grace  should  be  so  spiritual  that  believers  might 
steadily  grow  in  grace,  and  sinners  be  turned  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  just.  So  fully  was  he  sustained 
in  these  soimd  views  by  the  efforts  of  his  faithful 
associates  that  no  entire  term  ever  went  past  with- 
out some  conversions,  and  thus  the  tone  of  the 
school  was  always  religious.  But  he  was  also  con- 
vinced that  such  schools  ought  to  be,  even  more 
frequently  than  ordinary  churches,  scenes  of  reli- 
gious revival. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  directly  after  Mr.  Fisk  had 
gone  to  Wilbraham,  the  New  England  Conference 
held  its  annual  session  in  that  place.  Bishop 
George  was  the  presiding  bishop,  a  man  of  the 
most  devout  piety,  and  a  preacher  of  fervid  and 
melting  eloquence.  As  the  official  and  formal 
business  in  those  times  was  not  so  extensive  as 
now,  it  was  the  custom  to  devote  no  small  part  of 
the  session  to  religious,  and  even  revival,  services. 
Nothing  suited  them  better  than  to  leave  a  blaze 
of  revival  influences  behind  them.  There  were 
revivalists  of  no  mean  power  in  the  body  itself. 
Such  were  Jotham  Horton,  Orange  Scott,  Abra- 
ham D.  Merrill,  Leroy  Sunderland,  and  Wilbur 
Fisk  himself.  Abo^  all  these  eminently  success- 
ful revivalists  towered  the  fame  of  John  Newland 
Maffitt.  ]\Iaffitt  took  the  front  rank  among  such 
honored  names  as  easily  and  undeniably  as  Mr. 
Moody  would  do  in  our  time.     I  remember  ex- 


96  WILBUR  FISK. 

pressing  my  doubts  to  the  Rev.  Ralph  W.  Allen, 
of  the  New  England  Conference,  of  the  justice  of 
Maffitt's  fame.     Instantly  his  face  lit  up  :  "  Well, 
then,  you  never  heard  him  preach.     Nobody  who 
ever  heard  him  preach  could  doubt  that."     Still 
that  did  happen  sometimes,  for  I  remember  the 
late  Mr.  James  T.   Fields  of   Boston  gave  me  a 
most  vivid  description  of  the  effect  of  Maffitt's 
preaching  on  him  when  a  boy.     "  But,"  said  Mr. 
Fields,    "  I    was   a   boy  then.     I  wonder   how  it 
would  seem  if  I  could  hear  him  now."     Ex-Gov- 
ernor Claflin  of  Massachusetts  once  gave  the  best 
grounded  and  argued  statement  of  Maffitt's  supe- 
riority to  all  subsequent   and   recent   revivalists, 
like   Moody  and    Pentecost,   I   have  ever   heard. 
He  had  certain  external  points  of  distinction  over 
them  which  gave  a  charm  to  everything  he  said. 
He  was  a  handsome,  well-formed  man,  of  dignified 
bearing,  dressed  with  exquisite  taste  and  natural- 
ness.    His  elocution  was  exceedingly  easy  and  re- 
fined, and  his  enunciation  of  words  whose  pronun- 
ciation  is  disputed   always  followed  the  best  au- 
thorities.    Yet,  unlike  many,  all  these  matters  of 
petty  distinction  were  so  thoroughly  spontaneous 
to  him  that  they  seemed  to  operate  of  themselves, 
with  the  easy  gracefulness    of   a   bird's   pinions. 
Then    came   the   more    important    matter.       His 
preaching  was  thoroughly  orthodox.     He  preached 
all  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel  with  unspar- 
ing earnestness  and   devotion.      He  had  a  study 
where  he  used  to  pass  the  intervals  between  one 


THE   EDUCATOR. —WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.       97 

service  and  another.  There  he  used  to  employ  all 
his  time  and  thought  in  preparation  for  the  next 
service.  lie  made  out  his  points  in  a  clear  and 
convincing  manner  from  the  express  teachings  of 
Scripture  or  the  experience  of  holy  men.  Much 
of  his  time  was  spent  in  prayer,  so  that  he  carried 
with  him  that  heavenly  influence  which  sways  all 
hearts. 

This  was  the  revivalist,  just  then  in  the  full 
flush  of  his  power,  whose  participation  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  conference,  and  whose  preaching 
during  and  after  the  session,  rendered  the  coming 
of  the  first  great  revival  in  the  academy  a  marked 
and  memorable  event.  After  the  conference 
closed,  Maffitt  was  induced  to  remain  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  general  interest  in  religion  which 
had  been  aroused.  His  preaching  was  made  in- 
strumental in  extending  and  deepening  the  work 
of  grace  through  the  school  and  throughout  the 
town. 

Maffitt  showed  his  unusual  readiness  of  retort. 
Somebody  asked,  "  Brother  Maffitt,  why  do  you 
always  say  wind  in  reading  your  hymns  ?  "  Like 
a  flash  came  the  answer,  "  Because  I  cannot  find 
it  in  my  mind  to  say  wind."  In  this  revival 
at  Wilbraham  the  Congregationalist  pastor  com- 
plained that  there  was  too  much  noise.  "My 
brother,  this  is  the  stillest  world  you  will  ever  be 
in,"  was  the  quick  and  genial  reply  of  the  great 
evangelist.  Dr.  Fisk  sent  an  account  of  the  re- 
vival  to  "  Zion's  Herald." 


J 


98  WILBUR  FISK. 

REVIVAL   AT   THE   WESLEYAN   ACADEMY. 

"  WiLBRAHAM,  July  7,  1826. 

"  Dear  Brother,  —  Through  the  columns  of  the 
'  Herald '  we  would  give  a  short  notice  of  the  prosper- 
ity of  our  rising  seminary,  and  of  the  dealings  of  God 
with  us  in  this  place.  The  students  are  generally  well- 
behaved,  diligent,  and  easily  governed.  This  is  undoubt- 
edly in  part  owing  to  that  which  rejoices  us  more  than 
anytliing  else  —  a  revival  of  religion  among  us.  There 
were  several  instances  of  conversion  and  some  good 
symptoms  of  a  work  of  grace  among  the  people  previ- 
ously to  the  sitting  of  the  conference  in  this  place ;  but 
now  a  number  profess  to  have  found  forgiveness  through 
Christ,  and  numbers  more  are  inquiring  after  salvation, 
insomuch  that  present  appearances  indicate  a  general 
shower  of  divine  mercy,  not  only  in  this  parish,  but 
in  the  South  parish  and  in  other  neighboring  parishes. 
The  labors  of  our  brethren  during  the  conference  have 
doubtless  contributed  to  this ;  and  the  work  has  been 
especially  forwarded,  under  God,  by  the  instrumentality 
of  Brother  Maffitt,  who  tarried  more  than  a  fortnight 
after  the  conference  rose,  and  labored  with  much  suc- 
cess among  the  people.  Of  this  work  our  interesting 
family  at  the  boarding  house  have  shared  a  good  propor- 
tion. I  will  not  name  the  number  who  have  professed  to 
experience  justifying  grace,  because  among  such  young 
persons,  in  times  of  great  excitement,  there  cannot  al- 
ways be  a  strong  assurance  that  the  work  will  in  every 
case  prove  genuine.  A  number,  however,  give  good  evi- 
dence of  a  change  of  heart ;  and  I  know  some  of  our 
preachers  will  rejoice  when  they  learn  that  some  of  their 
children  are  among  the  number.  I  cannot  express  the 
feelings  of  my  heart  when  I  returned  from  a  journey 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.         99 

which  I  took  immediately  after  conference,  to  find  that 
a  number  of  these  dear  youths  who  have  been  intrusted 
to  our  care  are  rejoicing  in  the  Lord.  We  rejoice  over 
them,  however,  with  trembhng  ;  we  shall  watch  for  their 
confirmation  in  the  Divine  life  with  affectionate  anxiety  ; 
and  constantly  pray,  '  O  Lord,  strengthen  what  thou 
hast  wrought  for  us  ! '  Oh,  that  all  our  brethren  would 
join  with  us  in  this  prayer !  We  are  the  more  encour- 
aged to  hope  the  work  will  prove  permanent,  because  a 
number  of  the  scholars  were  confirmed  in  experience 
before  they  came  here,  whose  example  and  conversa- 
tion are  very  helpful  to  the  converts.  W.  FiSK." 

Lyman  Beecher  says  that  usually  he  liad  pre- 
monitions in  his  own  spiritual  condition  or  in  his 
work  as  a  pastor  of  the  advent  of  his  revivals,  but 
that  one  revival  of  great  power  broke  out  in  his 
church  without  any  heralding  sign  whatever.  Thus 
was  it  with  the  coming  of  the  greatest  revival  of 
religion  ever  known  at  Wesleyan  Academy  in  Dr. 
risk's  day.  At  such  seasons  an  unwonted  effi- 
ciency is  given  to  the  ordinary  means  of  grace  by 
the  direct  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  We 
have  seen  how  anxious  Mr.  Fisk  had  all  along 
been  not  only  that  the  divine  blessing  might  at- 
tend all  the  religious  instruction  and  admonition 
given  there,  so  that  the  devout  might  rise  to  a 
higher  ty])e  of  devotion  and  sinners  be  won  from 
their  waywardness  by  godly  Christian  example, 
but  also  special  seasons  of  refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  might  be  vouchsafed  the 
school.     His  feeling  was  profound  that  such  wide- 


100  WILBUR  FISK. 

spread  awakenings  ought  to  be  not  only  feasible, 
but  more  feasible  in  such  Christian  schools  than 
elsewhere ;  that  a  revival  amongst  such  excellent 
young  people  would  redound  far  more  widely  to  the 
glory  of  God  than  an  ordinary  awakening  could  ; 
and  that  such  school  revivals  would  arouse  more 
symj3athy  for  the  work  of  Christian  education  in 
the  church  than  anything  else.  That  was  an  era 
of  widespread  revivals  in  the  American  churches, 
so  that  their  occurrence  would  be  promptly  noted 
and  widely  reported.  Hence  the  ardor  and  per- 
sistence of  Dr.  Fisk's  labors  to  secure  a  revival 
year  by  year.  We  quote  Rev.  Stephen  Cushing's 
account  of  the  result. 

"  On  the  morning  of  that  ever  memorable  day, 
(March  9th,  1828),  a  young  man  of  sixteen  said  to  an- 
other whom  he  chanced  to  meet,  '  Edward,  will  you  seek 
religion,  if  I  will  ?  '  'I  desire  to  think  of  it,  and  will 
give  you  an  answer  in  an  hour,'  was  the  reply.  At  the 
expiration  of  the  hour  he  consented  to  join  him.  They 
walked  together  to  church  and  in  the  evening  another 
joined  them  in  a  prayer-meeting.  Together  they  fre- 
quently read  the  Bible  and  prayed  imtil  Wednesday 
evening,  when,  after  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Fisk  on  the  text 
'  Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth.'  they  with  one 
more  rose  for  prayers,  signifying  that  they  intended  to 
make  religion  the  business  of  life.  A  prayer-meeting  in 
the  students'  room  followed,  and  at  a  late  hour  three  of 
the  number  were  converted. 

"  The  next  evening  they  all  testified  at  the  usual  fam- 
ily prayer-meeting  that  they  had  found  the  Saviour,  and 
six  others  desired  prayers,  most  of  whom  were  before 


THE  EDUCATOR.  —WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.     101 

midnight  rejoicing  in  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins. 
Through  the  next  day  and  evening  there  were  many 
small  prayer-meetings.  On  Saturday  the  school  exer- 
cises were  suspended  and  the  time  devoted  to  prayer 
and  Christian  conference.  During  the  week  as  many 
as  thirty  had  heen  converted.  At  the  close  of  the  sec- 
ond week  hut  five  remained  in  the  boarding-house  un- 
converted. Meantime  between  fifty  and  sixty  had  given 
their  hearts  to  God,  and  of  these  six  became  ministers. 
Osmon  C.  Baker,  David  Patten,  and  Morris  HiU  were 
of  the  number.  .  .  . 

"  One  incident  I  well  remember.  A  backslider,  after- 
wards a  well-known  and  beloved  teacher  in  the  institu- 
tion (William  G.  Mitchell),  was  concerned  for  his  soul 
and  sought  a  retired  place  for  prayer.  Entering  a  room 
in  the  boarding-house,  he  knelt  and  began  to  pray  in 
earnest.  Another  student  coming  to  his  room  saw  him, 
and  called  in  two  others  to  pray  with  him.  Unaware 
of  their  presence  the  seeker  prayed  aloud,  and  as  he 
ceased  another  prayed  for  him,  when  he  suddenly  fell 
to  the  floor  and  remained  apparently  unconscious  for 
nearly  an  hour.  On  reviving,  his  joy  was  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory. 

"  At  class-meeting  in  the  evening,  as  J.  B.  Merwin, 
now  a  Presiding  Elder  in  the  New  York  Conference, 
arose  and  expressed  a  desire  to  be  a  Christian,  Mitchell 
seized  Merwin,  a  large  and  strongly  built  man,  and  car- 
ried him  the  length  of  the  boarding-hall  to  Dr.  Fisk, 
and  asked  him  to  pray  for  the  seeker.  For  weeks  the 
joy  of  young  Mitchell  continued  full  and  overflowing.  .  . . 

"  One  characteristic  of  this  revival  way  the  promi- 
nence given  to  the  subject  of  sanctification  or  Christian 
perfection  as  the  duty  and  privilege  of   all  believers. 


102  WILBUR  FISK. 

Were  this  more  frequently  done,  the  results  of  revivals 
would  be  far  more  satisfactory.  In  this  instance  the 
converts  were  urged  to  go  on  to  perfection,  and  to  de- 
vote themselves  fully  to  God.  In  a  short  time  after  his 
conversion  Baker  [afterwards  Bishop  Baker]  professed 
entire  sanctification,  and  exhibited  the  spirit  of  it  in  all 
his  after  life.  Other  converts  profited  by  these  exhor- 
tations, and  many  of  them  soon  received  this  fullness  of 
the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ." 

On  this  account,  Dr.  Sherman,  who  knows  the 
religious  history  of  Wesleyan  Academy  by  heart, 
comments :  — 

"Among  the  many  revivals  which  have  gladdened 
the  student  life  at  Wilbraham,  none  has  equaled  in 
depth,  and  power,  and  ascertained  results,  that  of  1828. 
During  its  progress.  Dr.  Fisk  remarked  that  he  had 
never  before  seen  the  power  of  God  so  marvelously  dis- 
played in  the  conversion  of  souls.  The  work  began  with- 
out observation,  and  apparently  without  human  instru- 
mentality, and,  once  under  way,  the  flow  of  the  stream 
was  quick,  steady,  broad,  and  deep.  It  was  the  Lord's 
doing,  and  it  was  marvelous  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  wit- 
nessed it.  By  this  surprising  uplift,  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  school  were  brought  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  So  overpowering  was  the  movement  that  for  an 
entire  week  the  usual  duties  of  the  school  were  put  aside, 
and  the  attention  of  students  and  citizens  was  given  to 
the  subject  of  personal  religion." 

Three  young  men,  who  intended  to  enter  the  min- 
istry, had  associated  themselves  together  in  1827, 
partly  for  united  study  in  theology,  and  partly  for 


THE  EDUCATOR. -WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.     103 

gaining  information  as  to  the  best  lines  of  study 
for  young  ministers  and  the  best  books  to  help  them 
in  their  work.  These  men  were  Charles  Adams, 
John  W.  Merrill,  and  Edward  Otheman.  They 
were  soon  joined  by  Selah  Stocking,  Joel  Knight, 
Horace  Moidton,  Jefferson  Hascall,  Jefferson  Ham- 
ilton, and  others.  They  appointed  a  committee  to 
ask  the  suo-o-estious  of  Dr.  Fisk,  and  found,  to  their 
delight,  that  they  had  anticipated  him  in  a  favor- 
ite plan  for  the  advantage  of  the  school.  Under 
these  delightful  auspices  the  class  soon  rose  to 
thirty  members.  Henceforth  Mr.  Fisk  met  the 
class  on  an  appointed  evening  every  week.  This 
arrangement  was  very  helpful  to  its  members,  but 
the  enthusiastic  writer  who  calls  such  a  weeldy 
meeting  with  Wilbur  Fisk  a  "  a  theological  edu- 
cation "  is  wide  astray.  A  former  member  of  the 
class.  Rev.  John  W.  Merrill,  D.  D.,  of  Concord, 
N.  H.,  has  kindly  furnished  notes  of  this  famous 
class :  — 

"  We  then  thought  no  one  could  take  the  lead  of  it  so 
well  as  our  revered  principal.  It  was  doubtful,  with  his 
feeble  health,  with  his  many  cares,  whether  he  could  as- 
sume this  new  work  ;  yet  we  could  think  of  no  one  else 
so  genial,  so  competent.  We  imparted  our  plan  and  our 
wishes  to  Dr.  Fisk,  who  with  a  radiance  of  joy  on  his  face 
not  only  consented  to  be  our  president,  but  expressed  his 
conviction  that  it  was  a  providential  event.  .  .  .  He  ap- 
pointed one  evening  a  week  to  sit  with  us  as  our  teacher, 
critic,  director,  and  president.  These  appointments, 
when  in  town,  he  uniformly  kept ;  and  at  our  meetings 


104  WILBUR  FISK. 

he  would  fervently  pray  for  us  that  we  might  he  sancti- 
fied by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  prepared  for  our  great 
work.  With  what  fervor  he  poured  out  his  soul  for  us, 
those  only  can  know  who  have  seen  and  heard  him. 

"  At  these  meetings  he  would  give  out  some  of  the 
principles  of  constructing  sermons,  assign  us  our  texts, 
or  let  us  choose  them.  At  the  next  meeting  we  would 
present  our  plans.  He  would  show  wherein  they  were 
faulty,  and  note  what  was  most  happy  with  singular 
aptness.  Hard  questions  in  theology  he  would  often 
propose  for  us  to  tliink  of  and  then  discuss.  Topics  in 
theology  were  given  us  on  which  we  were  expected  to 
write.  He  would  look  these  productions  over,  and  at 
the  next  time  give  the  suggestions  needed.  His  conver- 
sations at  these  times  were  feasts  to  our  hungry  souls. 
Clerical  visitors  were  often  invited  to  spend  the  evening 
with  us,  and  never  was  the  face  of  Wilbur  Fisk  more 
radiant  than  when,  like  the  Master,  he  sat  with  his 
disciples.  Under  Christ  he  was  our  Master,  a  master- 
spirit." 

Of  course,  this  was  no  small  addition  to  the  cares 
of  an  overtasked  man ;  but  notice  "  the  radiance 
of  joy  on  his  face  "  with  which  Wilbur  Fisk  con- 
fronts this  burden  of  unremunerated  labor.  With 
such  a  heavenly  glow  from  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness on  his  face,  one  is  surely  safe  in  concluding 
that  the  sanctification  he  won  at  Wellfleet  camp- 
meeting  was  still  a  living  possession. 

While  the  academy  was  thus  making  its  way 
into  public  confidence  and  favor  by  its  high  stand- 
ards in  all  the  ordinary  branches  taught  in  such 
institutions,  certain  members  of  the  board  of  trust 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEY  AN  ACADEMY.     105 

showed  a  restless  eagerness  to  connect  with  it 
experiments  in  the  manual  labor  line.  A  build- 
ing was  erected  where,  it  was  thought,  instruction 
might  be  given  in  chair-making  or  shoe-making  to 
any  who  might  be  disposed  to  devote  to  these  oc- 
cupations the  time  usually  spent  in  diversion  and 
conversation.  But  somehow  the  zeal  for  such  ex- 
periments seems  to  have  flamed  more  hotly  and 
perseveringiy  in  the  wishes  o£  some  of  the  trustees 
than  anywhere  else.  For  several  years  they  kept 
at  it,  passing  resolutions,  appointing  committees  to 
carry  out  their  ideas,  and  turning  from  one  project 
to  another  with  singular  zeal.  Yet  there  was  al- 
ways some  hitch  about  the  business  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, and  real  instruction  in  these  mechanic  arts 
was  never  given,  so  that  the  hopes  of  such  things 
gradually  showed  their  visionary  and  impracticable 
character.  Once  they  set  up  a  country  store  to  be 
run  under  the  charge  of  a  committee  of  the  board. 
It  is  pretty  evident  that  the  fundamental  trouble 
in  all  such  experiments  is,  that  a  full  tale  of  regu- 
lar and  systematic  intellectual  labor  is  a  sufficient 
tax  upon  the  physical  endurance  of  ordinary  men. 
Only  now  and  then  a  person  of  exceptional  phys- 
ical vigor  can  take  up  this  double  task  long  with- 
out breaking  down.  The  attitvxde  of  the  teachers, 
including  Dr.  Fisk,  toward  these  experimental  ma- 
nias is  not  clear.  Apparently  matters  were  in  such 
a  condition  in  the  trustee  board  that  they  saw  noth- 
ing else  to  be  done  but  to  expose  such  dreams  by 
earnest  attempts  to  realize  them. 


106  WILBUR  FISK. 

There  was  only  one  kind  of  experiment  in  man- 
ual labor  which  any  large  number  of  students  took 
any  interest  in,  —  the  attempt  at  a  sort  of  coopera- 
tive or  communistic  farming.  Farming  is  a  pur- 
suit with  which  quite  a  number  of  young  men  in 
any  large  school  in  New  England  are  pretty  sure 
to  have  some  practical  acquaintance.  Hence  it 
would  be  easy  to  make  them  take  an  interest  in 
learning  to  be  scientific  agriculturists,  and  so  put- 
ting the  old  folks  at  home  to  the  blush  over  their 
inferior  methods  of  farm  management.  If  actual 
farm  boys  would  be  the  last  to  be  persuaded  that 
a  man  can  be  at  the  same  time  a  successful  stu- 
dent and  a  successful  farmer,  still  many  of  them 
might  be  tempted  into  making  the  experiment. 
Hence  the  agricultural  craze  was  once  widespread 
in  the  school  at  Wilbraham.  Mr.  Dunn  tells  the 
story :  — 

"  The  trustees  braced  themselves  up  for  the  occasion, 
and  decided  to  try  a  larger  experiment  at  amateur 
farming.  Accordingly  the  large  field  back  of  the  board- 
ing-house was  put  into  prime  order  for  the  production 
of  crops  ;  and  a  good  number  of  students  took  plots 
to  cultivate  during  the  season.  The  several  lots  were 
staked  off,  and  a  shallow  trench  dug  between  them  as  a 
clear  distinction  between  meum  and  tuum.  In  due 
time  the  seed  was  committed  to  the  bosom  of  Mother 
Earth  ;  and  with  the  requisite  skill,  the  hills  or  drills,  as 
the  case  might  be,  were  nicely  patted  down  with  the 
hoe.  So  far  all  was  well.  That  was  a  sample  of  stu- 
dent planting.     Who,  after  that,  could  doubt  that  stu- 


THE  EDUCATOR. —WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.      107 

dents  could  work  at  farming  as  well  as  wi-ite  poor  Latin 
and  Greek,  or  run  through  idioms,  or  master  mathemat- 
ics ?  Please  examine  the  field  ;  note  each  plot  contain- 
ing the  seed  awaiting  sun  and  rain  and  the  willing  hand 
of  toil,  to  yield  a  return  of  a  hundred-fold.  The  blade 
soon  apjjears  and  affords  early  jjromise  of  a  future  and 
abundant  harvest.  The  workmen  are  on  the  spot  with 
rake,  hoe,  trowel,  to  cultivate  the  soil.  At  first  the  en- 
thusiam  was  too  great  to  be  expressed  with  pen  and  ink. 
It  was  a  furor  for  agriculture,  resembling  that  at  a  later 
date  for  the  moms  mulicaulis.  But  such  intensity  of 
interest  never  continues  long  at  white  heat.  Even  love 
at  too  high  a  temperature  is  subject  to  decline.  And  so 
the  fervor  of  our  young  men  for  geoponics  lessened  with 
each  day.  Each  week  their  visits  to  this  Eldorado  be- 
came less  frequent,  until  the  steward  made  complaint 
to  Dr.  Fisk  that  something  must  be  done  to  stir  the 
amateur  agriculturists  to  greater  zeal  and  constancy  in 
the  performance  of  their  duties.  He  gave  me  an  in- 
vitation to  walk  out  with  him  and  view  the  Promised 
Land.  We  went,  we  saw.  We  saw  weeds  of  the  most 
approved  kinds  and  the  most  luxuriant  growth.  The 
soil  was  rich  and  productive,  —  indeed,  too  much  so  to 
allow  any  chance  for  the  grain.  The  doctor  smiled  and 
looked  wisely  over  the  profuse  growth.  I  need  not  say 
that  this  was  the  last  experiment  at  student  farming  at 
Wesleyan  Academy." 

Such  was  the  career  of  successful  educational 
work  on  which  Wesleyan  Academy  was  launched 
under  the  auspicious  care  of  Wilbur  Fisk.  The 
managers  had  learned  in  the  remorseless  school  of 
experience  what  parts  of  their  plans  were  really 


108  WILBUR  FISK. 

valuable,  and  responded  to  public  necessities.  The 
scbool  at  A^  ilbraham,  and  in  a  lesser  degree  that 
at  Kent's  Hill,  Maine,  became  models  on  whicli 
other  schools  in  New  England  and  all  over  the 
country  were  planned.  We  shall  be  able  to  see 
the  work  done  and  the  change  wrought  by  these 
schools  if  we  present  a  statistical  exhibit  of  the 
Methodist  schools  which  are  now  doing  the  kind 
of  work  in  New  England  done  by  Wilbraham 
Academy  in  Dr.  Fisk's  day.  All  these  schools, 
except  that  at  Auburndale,  educate  the  two  sexes 
together.  They  have  done  an  immense  and  price- 
less work  in  making  education  good,  cheap,  and 
religious.  They  have  made  Methodism  honorable 
in  the  eyes  of  all  their  students.  These  statistics 
are  from  official  sources.  It  is  not  until  the  tabu- 
lar statement  given  hereafter  is  read  that  we  can 
realize  how  truly  the  conference  schools  founded 
first  under  Wilbur  Fisk  at  Wilbraham  responded 
to  a  widely  felt  need.  For  the  sake  of  clearnesss 
and  definite  impression,  we  limit  our  statistics  to 
New  England,  though  the  movement  has  spread 
through  the  entire  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
It  will  be  seen  that  such  schools  are  only  at  the 
beginning  of  their  career  of  usefulness. 

There  are  eight  such  schools  to-day,  served  by 
ninety-nine  teachers,  with  1,715  students  in  attend- 
ance, whose  endowments  and  other  property  of  all 
sorts  amount  to  11,000,000,  whose  yearly  income 
from  all  sources  is  1:90,190,  while  but  one  school  has 
a  debt  of  112,500.     No  less  than  85,203  different 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEYAN  ACADEMY.      109 

persons  have  been  members  of  these  schools.  This 
last  statement  rests  in  part  on  estimates.  Where 
estimates  differ,  the  mean  estimate  between  highest 
and  lowest  has  been  followed  :  — 


NAME. 

GRADE. 

LOCATION. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 
6. 

6. 

7. 
8. 

East  Greenwich  Academy 
New  Hampshire  Conference 
Seminary   and  Female  Col- 
lege 
Vermont    Methodist    Semi- 
nary and  Female  College 
Troy  Conference  Academy 
Maine   Wesleyan    Seminary 

and  Female  College 
East  Maine  Conference  Sem- 
inary 
Wesleyan  Academy 
Lasell  Seminary  for  Young 
Women 

Academic  .... 
Shown  by  name 

Shown  by  name. 

Academic  .... 
Shown  by  name 

Academic   and  col- 
lege preparatory 

Shown  by  name 

East  Greenwich,  R.  I. 
Tilton,  N.  H. 

Montpelier,  Vt. 

Poultney,  Vt. 
Kent's  HUl,  Me. 

Bucksport,  Me. 

Wilbraham,  Mass. 
Auburndale,  Mass. 

PRINCIPAL. 


1.  Rev.  F.  D.  Blakeslee,M.  A. 

2.  D.  C.  Kiiowles,  D.  D.    .     .     . 

3.  Rev.  E.  .\.  Bishop,  M.  A. 

4.  Rev.  E.  H.  Dunton,  D.  D.      . 

5.  E.  M.  Smith,  D.  D 

6.  Rev.  A.  F.  Chase,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D. 

7.  Rev.  6.  M.  Steele,  LL.  D.      . 

8.  C.  C.  Bragdon,  A.  M.     .     .     . 


12 
8 
10 
11 
15 

1.3 

30 


a 

t 

M    . 

H 

»  n 

0 

gu 

a  H 

S  !0 

o 

U  H 

is 

^ 

H 

M 

1841* 

211 

6,875 

1843 

209 

7,000 

1834 

215 

14,000 

1836 

lyy 

5,500 

1821 

220 

25.000 

1850 

180 

10,828 

1824 

230 

16,000 

1851 

151 

ENDOWMENT. 


$30,000 
48,000 
40,000 
30,000 

iii.ono 

25,000 
14,000 


*  Bought  in. 


110 


WILBUR  FISK. 


i 

VLCE  OF   APPA- 
EATOS. 

i 

INCOME 

INCOME 

"1 

"  1" 

3" 

BINET   S 
MENS. 

FROM 
TUITION. 

FROM  OTHER 
SOURCES. 

DEBT. 

o 
> 

> 

1.  $70,000 

2,000 

$1,000 

1,050 

$6,176.19 

$1,184.75 

2.    75,000 

600 

500 

2,500 

3,500.00 

2,000.00 

3.     80,000 

1,400 

125 

2,000 

8,500.00 

3,000.00 

4.    50,000 

1,800 

600 

1,500 

7,728.54 

14,000.00 

5.  121,000 

5,500 

5,000 

2,500 

6,036.70 

3,314.24 

6.     30,000 

1,300 

7.  160,000 

5,000 

3,200 

2,000 

12,750.00 

8,000.00 

8.  115,000 

1,300 

2,000 

750 

13,000.00 

$12,500 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THEOLOGICAL  CONTROVERSIES. 

Besides  his  addresses  and  articles  upon  educa- 
tional subjects,  Dr.  Fisk  was  the  author  of  two 
sermons  on  the  errors  of  Universalism.  The  first 
was  the  sermon  delivered  before  the  New  England 
conference  during  its  session  at  Providence  in 
1823,  and  published  at  the  joint  request  of  the 
conference  and  the  students  of  BroMTi  University ; 
the  second  was  a  sermon  delivered  in  the  Metho- 
dist Church  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  published 
in  a  little  volume,  "  Anti-Universalism,"  of  which 
Dr.  Fisk  and  Rev.  T.  Merritt  were  the  authors. 
The  first  sermon  was  arraigned  by  a  Universalist 
clergyman  at  Providence,  Pickering  by  name.  The 
second  was  answered  by  Mr.  Paige,  a  Springfield 
Universalist  minister.  It  has  been  impossible  to 
find  in  print  the  Universalist  share  in  this  contro- 
versy ;  and  although  Dr.  Fisk  was  honor  itself  in 
the  statement  of  an  adversary's  views,  it  would, 
perhaps,  be  better  to  pass  this  debate  by  with 
the  general  remark  that  Dr.  Fisk  shows  here  his 
wonted  keenness  of  argument. 

Under  the  signature,  "  A  Friend  of  Mankind," 
Mr.  Fisk  published,  in  "  Zion's  Herald,"  "  Stric- 


112  WILBUR  FISK. 

tures  on  a  Unitarian  Tract,  by  Rev.  John  Pierpont, 
entitled  'Jesus  Christ  not  a  Literal  Sacrifice,' 
printed  for  the  American  Unitarian  Association." 
These  "  Strictures  "  were  reprinted  without  date, 
and  widely  circulated  in  tract  form.  This  has  all 
the  qualities  of  a  good  tract ;  it  is  brief,  pointed, 
logical,  sprightly,  never  rails,  or  misses  the  point. 
It  probably  served  its  author's  purpose  in  its  own 
day.  Unlike  his  other  controversial  papers,  it 
called  out  no  reply. 

The  most  important  as  well  as  most  considera- 
ble of  these  controversial  papers  is  still  known 
to  readers  as  the  "  Calvinistic  Controversy."  This 
book  is  important,  because  it  shows  the  reasons 
which  determined  the  ecclesiastical  relations  and 
the  theological  system  of  Dr.  Fisk.  Here  are  -the 
motives  which  retained  him  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
coj^al  Church,  notwithstanding  the  reasonings  by 
which  David  Gould  would  have  won  him  for  the 
Congregational  Church,  and  led  him  to  reject  even 
the  mitigated  Calvinism  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church,  which  his  friend  Taft,  and  especially 
Simon  Wright,  commended  to  his  acceptance  by 
every  conceivable  plea.  It  will  be  needless  to  more 
than  epitomize  Dr.  Fisk's  views  in  the  various 
phases  of  the  debate,  since  he  had  the  single  aim 
to  show  the  essence  and  results  of  Calvinism,  with- 
out impeaching  anybody's  motives,  or  pretending 
that  any  or  all  Calvinists  admitted  the  logical  con- 
sequences which  he  arrayed  against  their  system. 
He  never  confounded  his  inferences  with  their  be- 
liefs. 


THEOLOGICAL    CONTROVERSIES.  113 

Tlie  small  town  of  Greenwich,  Mass.,  was  mainly 
made  up  of  Calvinists  and  Methodists,  and  Dr. 
Fisk  had  preached  with  his  usual  acceptability  to 
both  parties.  He  was  requested  by  both  sides  to 
preach  on  the  points  in  dispute  between  Calvinists 
and  Arminians.  The  sermon  was  so  effective  that 
some  of  his  hearers  renounced  their  former  views. 
A  committee  of  Greenwich  people  requested  him 
to  publish  it.  It  went  through  two  editions  with- 
out making  much  stir,  but  when  it  was  stereo- 
typed, and  issued  from  the  book  room  as  a  tract, 
attacks  began  from  various  quarters.  To  these  at- 
tacks Dr.  risk  rephed,  and  so  the  book  grew  to  its 
present  shape  in  about  1835.  It  is  still  on  sale  at 
the  book-room.  I  have  thought  best  merely  to 
epitomize  the  book  because  the  latter  portions  are 
replies  to  the  criticisms  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fitch,  of 
the  New  Haven  Divinity  School,  the  Rev.  David 
Metcalf,  and  others.  Mr.  David  Metcalf  was,  in 
his  old  age,  my  neighbor  when  I  was  pastor  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Oxford,  Mass.  He 
gave  me  the  first  copy  of  President  Fisk's  "  Cal- 
vinistic  Controversy  "  I  ever  saw.  I  read  it  with 
care,  and  as  Mr.  Metcalf  was  fond  of  discussion, 
we  debated  it  point  by  point.  The  book  itself  is 
black  with  my  old  friend's  annotations.  He  re- 
tained a  profound  respect  for  Dr.  Fisk,  notwith- 
standins:  their  keen  discussions. 

The  text  of  Dr.  Fisk's  discourse  was :  — 


114  WILBUR  F18K. 


PREDESTESrATION    AND    ELECTION. 

"  According  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in  him  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before 
him  in  love. 

"  Having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children,  by 
Jesus  Christ,  to  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his 
will."  —  Ephesians,  i.  4,  5. 

"  The  ground  of  controversy  is  the  unlimited  extent 
to  which  some  have  carried  the  idea  of  predestination- 
Calvin  says,  '  Every  action  and  motion  of  every  creature 
is  governed  hy  the  hidden  counsel  of  God,  so  that  noth- 
ing can  come  to  pass  but  was  ordained  by  him.'  The 
Assembly  Catechism  is  similar :  '  God  did,  from  all 
eternity,  unchangeably  ordain  whatever  comes  to  pass.' 
But  '  we  believe  that  the  character  and  acts  of  intelligent 
beings,  so  far  at  least  as  their  moral  accountability  is 
concerned,  are  not  definitely  fixed  and  efiiciently  pro- 
duced by  the  unalterable  purpose  and  efiicient  decree  of 
God.'     Here,  therefore,  we  are  at  issue. 

"  The  more  common  and  jDlausible  argument  for  fore- 
oi'dination  is,  that  the  'foreknowledge  of  God  neces- 
sarily implies  predestination.  For  how  can  an  action 
that  is  really  to  come  to  pass  be  foreseen  if  it  be  not 
determined  ?  God  foreknew  everything  from  eternity ; 
but  this  he  could  not  have  known  if  he  had  not  so 
determined  it.  God's  decree  precedes  his  knowledge.' 
Fibk  objects:  'Prescience  is  an  essential  quality  of  the 
divine  nature.  But  a  determination  to  do  this  or  that 
is  not  essential  to  the  divine  nature.  .  .  .  But  to  know 
is  so  essential  to  him  that  the  moment  he  ceases  to 
know  all  that  is,  or  will  be,  or  might  be,  under  any  pos- 
sible contingency,  he  ceases  to  be  God.  Is  it  not  absurd 
to  make  an  essential  attribute  of  Deity  depend  upon  the 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  115 

exercise  of  his  attributes  ?  ...  If  God  must  predeter- 
mine events  in  order  to  know  them,  then,  as  the  cause  is 
in  no  case  dependent  on  the  effect,  the  decrees  of  God 
must  be  passed  and  his  plan  contrived  independently  of 
his  knowledge,  which  only  had  an  existence  as  the  effect 
of  these  decrees.'  It  is  better  to  say  '  that  the  plan  of 
the  Ahnighty  is  the  result  of  his  infinite  knowledge.' 
So  runs  Scripture :  '  For  whom  he  did  foreknow,  he 
also  did  predestinate  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of 
his  Son  ; '  '  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God 
the  Father.'  In  these  passages  predestination  and  elec- 
tion are  most  clearly  founded  on  foreknowledge. 

"  But,  pleads  Calvinism  :  '  The  foreknowledge  of  God 
is  tantamount  to  a  decree,  since  God  cannot  be  in  a 
mistake :  whatever  he  foreknows  must  take  place  ;  his 
knowledge  makes  it  certain.'  This  is  shifting  the  argu- 
ment ;  for  if  God's  knowledge  makes  an  event  certain, 
of  course  it  is  not  his  predetermination.  '  Does  the 
event  take  place  because  it  is  foreknown,  or  is  it  fore- 
known because  it  will  take  place  ?  '  He  would  be  con- 
sidered a  fool  or  madman  who  should  seriously  assert 
that  the  knowledge  of  a  certainty  produced  that  cer- 
tainty. 

"  To  deny  Calvinian  predestination  is  not  to  deny 
that  God  has  a  perfect  plan.  God,  whose  eye  surveys 
immensity  and  eternity  at  a  glance,  and  who  knows  all 
possibilities  and  contingencies,  all  that  is  or  will  be,  can 
perfectly  arrange  his  plan,  and  preclude  the  possibility 
of  a  disappointment,  though  he  does  not,  by  a  decree  of 
predestination,  fix  all  the  volitions  and  acts  of  his  sub- 
jects. .  .  .  Nor  does  it  follow,  because  God  hath  pre- 
destinated some  things,  that  he  hath  decreed  all  things. 
Those  passages,  then,  which  are  so  frequently  quoted  as 


116  WILBUR  FISK. 

proof  of  this  doctrine,  which  only  prove  that  God  hath 
predetermined  certain  events,  are  not  proof  in  point. 
We  know  of  many  passages  which  say  of  certain 
events  which  have  come  to  pass,  that  God  did  not  com- 
mand them  nor  will  them,  but  forbade  them. 

"  All  the  stock  quotations  from  Scripture  to  prove 
this  dogma  are  shown  not  to  prove  it.  We  give  an 
example  or  two :  '  He  hath  blinded  their  minds  and 
hardened  their  hearts.'  '  Him,  being  delivered  up  by 
the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye 
have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  ye  have  crucified  and 
slain.'  .  .  .  God  blinds  men  and  hardens  their  hearts 
judicially,  as  a  just  punishment  for  abuse  of  their  free 
agency.  For  his  blinding  and  hardening  them,  he  does 
not  make  them  responsible.  He  holds  them  responsible 
for  that  degree  of  wickedness  which  made  it  just  and 
necessary  to  give  them  over  to  this  hardness  of  heart 
and  blindness  of  mind. 

"Calvinism  makes  God  the  author  of  sin.  Calvin 
says,  '  I  will  not  scruple  to  own  that  the  will  of  God 
lays  a  necessity  on  all  things,  and  that  everything  he 
wills  necessarily  comes  to  pass.'  Yet  they  deny  that 
God  is  the  author  of  sin,  because  they  say,  '  God  neces- 
sitates them  to  the  act,  and  not  to  the  deformity  of  sin  ; ' 
or  '  God  does  not  sin  when  he  makes  men  sin,  because 
he  is  under  no  law  and  cannot  sin.'  But  these  are  mis- 
erable shifts.  Has  not  the  defovniitu  of  sin  come  to 
pass  ?     Then  God  has  decreed  that  deformity. 

"  This  doctrine  of  predestination  destroys  human  free 
agency  and  accountability.  By  ample  quotations  from 
Southey's  '  Life  of  Wesley '  it  is  shown  that  Mr.  Wesley 
and  Mr,  Fletcher  were  roundly  abused  by  the  Calvinists 
of  their  time  because  they  taught  the  freedom  of  the 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  117 

human  will.  He  cites  these  words  from  Calvin :  *  Every 
motion  and  action  of  every  creature  is  governed  by  the 
hidden  counsel  of  God.'  Hence  man  '  wills  as  he  is 
made  to  will,  —  he  chooses  as  he  must  choose,  for  the 
immutable  decree  of  Jehovah  is  upon  him.'  But  such 
volition  cannot  involve  moral  responsibility.  It  is  ar- 
gued that  man  is  responsible  because  he  feels  that  he 
acts  freely.  This  is  a  good  argument,  upon  our  princi- 
ples, to  prove  that  men  are  free  ;  on  Calvinistic  ground 
it  proves  that  God  has  deceived  us.  He  has  made  us 
feel  that  we  miaht  do  otherwise,  but  he  knows  we  can- 
not,  —  he  has  determined  that  we  shall  not. 

"  This  doctrine  arrays  God's  secret  decrees  against 
his  revealed  word.  God  commands  men  not  to  sin, 
and  yet  ordains  that  they  shall  sin.  His  rule  of  action 
is  in  direct  opposition  to  our  rule  of  duty.  Is  God  at 
war  with  himself,  or  is  he  sporting  and  trifling  with  his 
creatures  ?  We  are  told,  to  relieve  the  difficulty,  that 
this  seeming  contradiction  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of 
God's  incomprehensible  nature.  But  it  is  not  a  seeming 
contradiction,  it  is  a  real  one. 

"This  dogma  takes  from  God  his  goodness.  Hence 
it  breeds  Universalism. 

"  Calvinism  teaches  that,  '  By  the  decree  of  God  for 
the  manifestation  of  his  glory,  some  men  and  angels  are 
predestinated  unto  everlasting  life,  and  others  foreor- 
dained to  everlasting  death.  Those  of  mankind  that 
are  predestinated  unto  life  God,  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  hath  chosen  in  Christ  unto  everlasting 
glory,  ^vitlwut  any  foresight  of  faith  or  good  works,' 
"We  hold  that  God  did  decree,  from  the  beginning,  to 
elect,  or  choose  in  Christ,  all  that  should  believe  unto 
salvation,  and  this  decree  proceeds  from  his  own  good- 


118  WILBUR  FJSK. 

ness,  and  is  not  built  on  any  goodness  in  the  creature ; 
and  that  God  did  decree  to  reprobate  all  who  should 
finally  and  obstinately  continue  in  unbelief.  Ours  is 
an  election  of  character,  theirs  ignores  character  in  the 
elect.  With  the  latter  go,  as  natural  concomitants,  '  Ir- 
resistible grace,  effectual  calling,  and  infallible  perse- 
verance.' .  .  .  We  assert  that  election  to  eternal  life 
i^  conditional,  they  unconditional.  '  Election  to  salva- 
tion, in  Scripture,  is  founded  on  the  divine  prescience.' 
*  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God,  through 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit  unto  obedience,  and  sprink- 
ling of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.'  '  Whom  he  did  fore- 
know he  also  did  predestinate  to  be  conformed  to  the 
image  of  his  Son.'  These  Scriptures  seem  decisive  that 
the  decree  of  election  rests  on  foreknowledge,  and  that 
this  election  is  made,  not  according  to  the  arbitrary  act 
of  God,  but  on  the  ground  of  sanctification  and  obedi- 
ence. 

"Such  an  election  annihilates  human  free  agency  and 
moral  resjionsibility  in  man,  doctrines  of  which  the  Holy 
Scriptures  and  the  human  conscience  are  full.  With 
the  Calvinistic  election  to  life  eternal  all  those  Scrip- 
tures are  inconsistent  which  warn  believers  against  fall- 
ing and  apostasy.  Calvinists  will  not  allow  that  there 
is  any  danger  of  counteracting  or  frustrating  the  plan 
of  the  Almighty.  Hence  there  is  no  danger  of  the  elect 
coming  short  of  salvation.  All  the  exhortations,  cau- 
tions, and  warnings,  therefore,  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, are  false  colors  and  deceptive  motives.  They  are 
like  the  attempts  of  some  weak  parents  to  frighten  their 
children  into  obedience  by  superstitious  tales  and  ground- 
less fears.  God  knows,  when  he  is  giving  out  these 
intimations  of   danger,  that  there  is  no  such  danger; 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  119 

his  own  eternal,  unchangeable  decree  had  secured  their 
salvation  before  the  means  were  planned,  —  if  election 
is  unconditional.  But  far  be  this  from  a  God  of  truth. 
When  God  warns,  there  is  real  danger. 

"  The  Scriptures  teach  a  conditional  election.  '  For 
many  are  called,  but  few  chosen.'  This  passage,  with 
the  parable  of  the  wedding  that  precedes  it,  teaches  that 
the  choice  was  made  subsequently  to  the  call,  and  was 
grounded  upon  the  fact  that  those  chosen  had  actually 
and  fully  complied  with  the  invitation,  and  come  to  the 
wedding  duly  prepared. 

" '  He  hath  chosen  us  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  that  we  should  be  holy,  having  predestinated  us 
unto  the  adoption  of  sons.'  (Eph.  i.  4,  5.)  '  For  whom 
he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predestinate  to  be  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  his  Son,'  and  'whom  he  did 
predestinate,  he  called,  justified,  glorified.'  (Rom.  viii. 
29.)  The  argument  is,  that  predestination  could  not  be 
founded  on  their  faith  or  holiness,  because  they  were 
predestinated  to  become  holy ;  predestination  had  their 
holiness  for  its  object  and  end.  But  if  these  passages 
had  an  allusion  to  a  personal  election  to  eternal  life, 
they  would  not  prove  unconditional  election,  '  because,' 
to  use  the  language  of  another,  '  it  would  admit  of  being 
questioned  whether  the  choosing  here  mentioned  was  a 
choice  of  certain  persons  as  men  merely,  or  as  believ- 
ing men,  which  is  the  most  rational.'  But  this  exposi- 
tion must  be  given  to  the  passage  from  Romans,  since 
they  who  were  subjects  of  predestination  were  first  fore- 
known, —  foreknown,  not  merely  as  existing,  since  all 
were  so  foreknown,  but  foreknown  as  i^ossessing  some- 
thing which  operated  as  a  reason  why  they  should  be 
elected    rather    than    others.        The    ninth    chapter   of 


120  WILBUR  FISK. 

Romans  is  shown  to  deal,  not  with  the  personal  election 
of  individuals,  but  the  making  the  Gentiles  '  heirs  of  the 
promises.'  Along  with  these  differences  of  lot  and 
nationality  goes  tlie  maxim,  '  It  is  required  of  a  man 
according  to  what  he  hath,  and  not  according  to  what 
he  hath  not.' 

"  '  Unconditional  election  implies  unconditional  repro- 
bation. To  the  reprobates  there  is  no  grace  or  mercy 
extended.  Their  very  existence,  connected  as  it  neces- 
sarily is  with  eternal  damnation,  is  an  infinite  curse.' 
This  theory  makes  God  partial  and  a  resjDecter  of  per- 
sons. .  .  .  Had  God  nothing  to  do  with  man  until  his 
prescient  eye  beheld  the  whole  race  in  a  ruined  state? 
How  came  man  in  that  state  ?  He  was  plunged  there 
by  the  sin  of  his  federal  head.  But  how  came  he  to 
sin  ?  '  Adam  sinned,'  Calvin  says,  '  because  God  so 
ordained.'  Taking  all  the  links  together,  they  stand 
thus :  God  decreed  to  create  intelligent  creatures  ;  he 
decreed  that  they  should  all  become  sinners  and  children 
of  wrath  :  and  it  was  so.  He  then  decreed  that  part  of 
those  whom  he  had  constituted  children  of  wrath  should 
be  taken,  and  washed,  and  saved,  and  the  others  left  to 
perish ;  and  then  we  are  told  that  there  is  no  unjust 
partiality  in  God,  since  they  all  deserve  to  be  damned. 
What  a  sinfjular  evasion  is  this  !  This  doe:ma  limits 
the  atonement,  which  the  Scriptures  make  universal." 

Of  the  reviews  called  out  in  Calvinistieal  jour- 
nals by  Dr.  Fisk's  sermon,  perhaps  the  most  re- 
markable appeared  in  the  "  Boston  Telegraph." 
The  writer  agreed  with  Dr.  Fisk  in  saying  of  the 
dogma  of  Calvinism  concerning  sin,  "  The  fiat  of 
God  brought  forth  sin  as  directly  as  it  made  the 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  121 

world."  The  criticisms  of  Rev.  David  Metcalf  and 
of  Dr.  Fitch  are  made  from  a  stand-point  essen- 
tially Arminian.  "  Let  me  say  once  for  all,  I  do 
not  consider  these  gentlemen,  nor  anj'^  who  think 
with  them,  responsible  for  the  doctrine  of  predesti- 
nation as  stated  and  opposed  in  the  sermon."  He 
explains  his  failure  to  except  them  from  liis  criti- 
cisms by  saying :  "  The  views  of  Dr.  Taylor  and 
'those  who  think  with  him,'  on  this  particular 
point,  were  unknown  to  me  at  the  time.  It  is  but 
lately  that  those  views  have  been  developed,  never 
so  fully  before  as  in  Dr.  Fitch's  review  of  my  ser- 
mon. That  any  set  of  men,  holding  on  the  article 
of  predestination  the  doctrine  of  James  Arminius, 
John  Wesley,  and  the  whole  body  of  Methodists, 
would  call  themselves  Calvinists,  never  occurred  to 
me.  This  is  all  the  apology  I  have  to  offer,  and 
whether  or  not  it  is  sufficient  the  public  must 
judge."  This  position  Dr.  Fisk  proves  clearly. 
One  of  the  facts  which  went  far  to  justify  this  as- 
sertion was,  that  men  like  Drs.  AVoods,  Griffin, 
Tyler,  and  Green  also  charged  the  New  Haven  di- 
vines with  rank  Arminianism.  While  two  classes 
of  Calvinists  thus  agreed  with  Dr.  Fisk's  state- 
ments respecting  these  Calvinistic  dogmas  and 
their  logical  consequences,  "  a  third  deny  my  defi- 
nition of  their  doctrine.  They  say  they  are  not 
chargeable  with  such  a  doctrine,  either  directly  or 
by  implication."  This  is  the  next  issue.  These 
persons  "  deny  that  the  responsible  acts  of  moral 
agents  are  definitely  fixed  and  efficiently  produced 


122  WILBUR   FISK. 

by  the  purpose  and  decree  of  God  ; "  that  these 
acts  "  are  the  residt  of  an  overruling  and  control- 
lino-  power  ;  "  "  that  the  will,  in  all  its  operations, 
is  governed  and   irresistibly  controlled   by   some 
secret  impulse,  some  fixed  and  all-controlling  ar- 
rangement."    The  aim  is  to  prove  that  these  are 
the  real  traits  of  Calvinism.     First,  there  is  a  uni- 
versal consensus  that  such  are  the  Calvinistic  doc- 
trines amongst  anti  -  predestinarians.     But  many 
predestinarians  also  ascribe  these  characteristics  to 
the  system.     This  was  openly  done  by  the  "  Bos- 
ton Telegraph  "  and  the  New  Haven  party.     The 
terms  the  Calvinists  use  are  "decree,"  "predes- 
tination,"   " f oreordination,"    "predetermination," 
"  purpose."     The  adjectives  that  commonly  modify 
these  nouns  are,  "  sovereign,"  "  eternal,"  "  immut- 
able."    "  They  are  the  secret  counsels  of  his  own 
wiU;  and  so  far  from  being  law  that  often,  per- 
haps oftener  than  otherwise,  in  the  moral  world, 
they  are  in  direct  opposition  to  the  precepts  of  the 
law.    When  these  decrees  come  in  conflict  with  the 
law  they  supersede  it.     Laws  may  sometimes  be 
broken  ;   these  decrees,   never.    God   commits  his 
laws  to  subordinate  moral  agents,  who  may  keep  or 
break  them.    But  his  decrees  he  executes  himself." 
In  a  controversy  with  Dr.  Taylor,  these   persons 
"  strenuously  maintain  that  sin,  wherever  it  occurs, 
is  preferable   to  holiness  in  its  stead,  and  is  the 
necessary  means  of  the  greatest  good." 

Dr.  Chalmers,  in  a  sermon  on  predestination, 
says :  — 


THEOLOGICAL    CONTROVERSIES.  123 

"  Every  step  of  every  incHvidual's  character  receives 
as  determinate  a  character  from  the  hand  of  God  as 
every  mile  of  a  planet's  orbit,  or  every  gust  of  the  wind, 
or  every  wave  of  the  sea,  or  every  particle  of  flying 
dust,  or  every  rivulet  of  flowing  water.  This  power  of 
God  knows  no  exceptions  :  it  is  absolute  and  unlimited. 
And  while  it  embraces  the  vast,  it  carries  its  resistless 
influence  to  all  the  minute  and  unnoticed  diversities  of 
existence.  It  reigns  and  operates  through  all  the  secre- 
cies of  the  inner  man.  It  gives  birth  to  every  purpose,  it 
gives  impulse  to  every  desire,  it  gives  color  and  shape  to 
every  conception.  It  wields  an  entire  ascendency  over 
every  attribute  of  the  mind  :  and  the  will,  the  fancy,  and 
the  understanding,  with  all  the  countless  variety  of  their 
hidden  and  fugitive  operations,  are  submitted  to  it.  It 
gives  movement  and  direction  through  every  one  point 
of  our  pilgrimage.  At  no  moment  of  time  does  it  aban- 
don us.  It  follows  us  to  the  hour  of  death,  and  it  car- 
ries us  to  our  place  and  to  our  everlasting  destiny  in  the 
region  beyond  it." 

Calvinists  uniformly  use  the  same  terms,  "  de- 
cree," "  predestination,"  etc.,  in  the  same  sense  in 
regard  to  all  necessary  events.  They  say  God's 
decrees  extend  to  all  events,  physical  and  moral, 
good  and  evil. 

To  tell  us  a  thousand  times,  without  any  distinc- 
tion or  discrimination,  that  all  things  are  equally 
the  result  of  the  divine  decree,  and  then  tell  us 
that  the  relation  between  God's  decree  and  sin  is 
essentially  different  from  the  relation  existing  be- 
tween his  decree  and  holiness,  would  certainly  be  a 
very  singular  and  unwarrantable  use  of  language. 


124  WILBUR  FISK. 

How,  then,  does  God  produce  holy  volitions  ?  Why, 
say  the  Calvinists,  by  a  direct,  positive,  and  effi- 
cient influence  upon  the  will.  Well,  how  does  God 
execute  his  decrees  respecting  unholy  volitions? 
Consistency  requires  the  same  reply.  But,  says  the 
Calvinist,  he  need  not  exert  the  same  influence  to 
produce  unholy  volitions,  because  it  is  in  accord- 
ance with  the  nature  of  sinful  men  to  sin.  Indeed, 
and  is  not  this  nature  the  result  of  a  decree  ?  It 
would  seem  that  God  approaches  the  work  of  exe- 
cuting his  decree  respecting  sin  either  more  re- 
luctantly or  with  greater  difficulty,  so  that  it  re- 
quires two  steps  to  execute  this,  but  only  one  the 
other.  It  is,  however,  in  both  cases  equally  his 
work.  This  wiE.  be  more  clearly  seen  if  we  turn 
our  attention  to  the  first  sin  ;  for  it  is  certainly  as 
much  against  a  perfectly  holy  nature  to  commit 
sin  as  it  is  against  an  unholy  nature  to  have  a 
holy  volition.  Hence  the  one  as  much  requires  a 
direct,  positive  influence  as  tlie  other. 

The  theory  of  motives  as  related  to  volition  runs, 
"  The  power  of  volition  is  never  excited,  nor  can 
be,  except  in  the  presence  and  from  the  excitement 
of  motives.  Hence  the  strongest  motive  rules  the 
will  (see  '  Views  in  Theology  ')....  Since  God 
creates  both  the  mind  and  the  motives,  and  brings 
them  together  for  the  express  purpose  that  the  for- 
mer should  be  swayed  by  the  latter,  it  follows  con- 
clusively that  God  efficiently  controls  the  will,  and 
produces  all  its  volitions.  It  is  stated  in  '  Views 
in  Theology '  that  '  God  is  the  determiner  of  per- 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  125 

ceptions,  and  perceptions  are  the  determiner  of 
clioiees.'  Hence  the  inference,  God  is  the  deter- 
miner of  choices. 

But  it  is  urged,  "  '  We  know  that  we  are  free  and 
responsible,  because  we  are  conscious  of  it.'  If 
this  doctrine  is  true,  I  am  not  sure  that  I  am  free 
and  responsible  because  I  feel  that  I  am.  I  am 
quite  as  conscious  that  I  ought  not  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  what  is  unavoidable  as  I  am  that  I 
am  possessed  of  moral  liberty." 

What  "  constitutes  man  a  free  moral  agent  ?  It 
is  the  power  of  choice,  connected  with  the  liberty 
to  choose  either  good  or  e\'il.  Both  the  power  and 
the  liberty  to  choose  either  good  or  evil  are  requi- 
site to  constitute  the  free  agency  of  a  probationer." 
"  When  asked,  '  How  can  you  reconcile  with  free 
agency  that  kind  of  divine  efficiency  necessary  to 
secure  the  execution  of  the  decrees,  and  that  kind 
of  dejDendence  of  moral  agents  which  this  efficiency 
implies  ?  '  the  answer  is,  '  We  cannot  tell,  —  the 
how  in  the  case  we  cannot  explain.'  " 

To  this  Dr.  Fisk  demurs  :  "  When  you  say, '  God 
executes  his  decrees  by  controlling  the  will  of  man,' 
and  also,  '  The  mind  of  man  is  free,'  both  these 
propositions  are  clear  ;  there  is  nothing  mysterious 
about  them.  But  you  say,  perhaps,  '  The  mystery 
is,  in  want  of  light  to  see  the  agreement  of  the 
two  : '  we  cannot  see  their  agreement,  but  we  should 
not  therefore  infer  that  they  do  not  agree.  '  What 
is  light  in  this  case  but  a  clear  perception  of  the 
propositions  ?  '   This  we  have,  and  we  see  that  they 


126  WILBUR  FISK. 

are  in  their  nature  incompatible  ;  and  the  more 
light  you  pour  upon  them,  the  more  clearly  must 
this  incomjjatibility  appear.  If  you  say,  '  Perhaps 
neither  you  nor  I  fully  understand  these  proposi- 
tions,' I  reply,  '  We  have  no  business  to  use  them.' 
'  Who  is  this  that  darkens  counsel  by  words  with- 
out knowledge  ?  ' 

"  It  is  presumed,  if  the  question  came  to  this, 
that  they  must  either  give  up  human  liberty  or 
predestination,  candid  Calvinists  themselves  would 
not  hesitate ;  they  would  say  the  former  must 
stand,  whatever  becomes  of  the  latter.  Hence,  pre- 
destinarians  themselves  being  judges,  the  doctrine 
of  predestination  is  not  so  clear  as  some  moral 
truths.  Hence  man  is  not  responsible  for  the  inev- 
itable, the  divinely  controlled  elements  of  his  life. 

"  Only  one  further  theory  needs  to  be  particu- 
larly noticed,  because  it  is  the  most  plausible  of 
all,  so  that,  if  this  will  not  bear  the  test,  it  is  prob- 
able no  other  will ;  and,  second,  because  this  is 
the  theory  pretty  generally,  and  perhaps  almost 
universally,  adopted  by  Calvinists:  I  mean  the 
Calvinistic  doctrine  of  motives.  It  is  in  substance 
this  :  the  power  of  choice  is  that  power  which  the 
mind  has  of  acting  in  view  of  motives,  and  of  de- 
ciding according  to  the  strongest  motive.  And 
this  relation  between  mind  and  motives  is  fixed  by 
the  very  constitution  of  our  natures,  so  that  it  may 
be  said  to  be  a  constitutional  necessity  that  the 
mind  should  be  controlled  by  motives. 

"  But  all  the  arguments  pleaded  in  favor  of  this 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  127 

absolute  subjection  of  one  class  of  minds  to  the 
absolute  control  of  motives,  hold  equally  well  in 
respect  to  all  minds,  hence,  to  the  Divine  Mind. 
Here  Edwards  and  Spinoza  are  absolutely  in  agree- 
ment. Professor  Upham  states  the  doctrine  in 
these  words  :  — 

"  '  Our  condition  in  this  respect  seems  to  be  essentially 
the  same  with  that  of  the  Creator  himself,  —  he  is  inev- 
itably governed  in  all  his  doings  by  what  is  wisest  and 
best.  It  is  believed  there  is  no  avoiding  this  conclusion  ; 
and  what  then  ?  Why,  then,  the  doctrine  makes  God  a 
necessary  agent,  and  leads  to  atheism.  Of  what  use  is 
such  a  Deity  ?     Might  we  not  as  weU  have  none  ?  '  " 

"  This  doctrine  tends  to  materialism.  Leibnitz 
illustrates  it  in  this  way :  'It  is  as  if  a  needle 
touched  with  a  loadstone  were  sensible  of,  and 
pleased  with,  its  turning  to  the  north  ;  for  it  would 
believe  that  it  turned  itself,  independent  of  any 
other  cause,  not  perceiving  the  insensible  motions 
of  the  magnetic  power.'  This  quotation  is  impor- 
tant because  it  shows  that  one  of  the  most  philo- 
sophical defenders  of  this  doctrine  considered  the 
law  of  motive  influence  similar  to  magnetic  attrac- 
tion, differing  only  in  being  accompanied  by  sen- 
sation and  a  deceptive  consciousness."  As  the 
choices  of  the  human  mind  obey  their  motives 
as  assuredly  as  physical  effects  come  from  their 
causes,  this  doctrine  delights  in  illustration  drawn 
from  the  realm  of  physics,  —  a  realm  where  all 
shadow  of  freedom  has  visibly  disappeared.  Hence 
Edwards  "  compares  our  volitions  to  the  vibrations 


128  WILBUR  FISK. 

of  a  scale  beam,  the  different  ends  of  whicli  are 
respectively  elevated  or  de23ressed  as  the  weights 
vary." 

A  further  objection  is,  that  this  theory  destroys 
the  very  existence  of  self-originated  action.  And 
yet  another  trouble  is,  "  it  leads  to  the  notion  of 
conversion  by  moral  suasion  merely.  If  motives 
govern  the  wdll  absolutely,  all  you  need  to  convert 
a  sinner  is  to  bring  a  motive  strong  enough  to 
make  him  choose  God  as  his  chief  good,  and  he  is 
converted.  Well  might  a  divine  of  this  cast,  whom 
I  heard  preach  not  long  since,  say  of  regeneration, 
'  There  is  nothing  supernatural  or  miraculous  in 
it.'  For  surely  it  is  one  of  the  most  natural  things 
in  the  world  to  be  converted.  It  is  only  to  be  op- 
erated upon  by  motive,  according  to  the  law  of  his 
natural  constitution,  and  the  man  is  converted." 

Over  against  all  these  favorite  theoi-ies  of  a  nat- 
ural ability  or  a  gracious  ability  in  unregenerate 
man  to  obey  God  and  gain  heaven,  which  were  in- 
vented by  their  aiithors  to  save  their  theories  from 
fatal  embarrassment,  though  the  theories  are  as 
incajjable  of  salvation  as  reprobate  souls.  Dr.  Fisk 
set  up  the  Methodist  article,  "  The  condition  of 
man  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is  such  that  he  can- 
not turn  and  prepare  himself,  by  his  own  natural 
strength  and  works,  to  faith  and  calling  upon 
God :  wherefore  we  have  no  power  to  do  good 
works,  pleasant  and  acceptable  unto  God,  without 
the  grace  of  God  by  Christ  preventing  us,  that  we 
may  have  a  good  will,  and  working  with  us  when 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  129 

we  have  that  good  will,"  With  this  view  Dr.  Fisk 
has  no  trouble  in  showing  that  the  older  Calvin- 
ists,  like  the  Synod  of  Dort  and  Calvin,  agreed. 
The  Synod  says  of  man  after  the  fall,  "  Man  is 
but  a  slave  to  sin,  and  has  nothing  of  himself,  un- 
less it  is  given  him  from  heaven."  "  They  be- 
lieved that  whenever  this  grace  was  imparted  to  an 
extent  to  restore  to  the  mind  the  power  of  choos- 
ing good,  it  was  regenerating  grace  ;  while  the  Ar- 
minians  believe  that  grace  may  and  does  restore 
the  power  to  choose  good  before  regeneration." 

Then  we  find  "  that  God  actually  gives  grace  to 
those  who  finally  perish.  It  is  said  even  of  the 
unregenerate  that  they  grieve,  resist,  and  quench 
the  spirit  of  grace.  God  gives  grace  to  the  repro- 
bates that  their  condemnation  may  be  the  more 
affofravated."  The  aro-ument  stands  thus  :  "  God 
gives  grace  to  the  reprobates  for  some  important 
purpose.  He  does  not  give  it  that  salvation  may 
be  possible  to  them  ;  without  it  they  can  be  saved. 
He  does  not  give  it  to  make  salvation  certain,  for 
this  it  does  not  effect ;  nevertheless  he  gives  them 
grace,  the  invariable  effect  of  which  is  to  increase 
their  condemnation." 

To  assume  that  reprobates  have  ability,  whether 
natural  or  moral,  to  obey  God,  leaves  it  possible 
that  some  reprobate  may  use  his  powers  so  as  to 
gain  eternal  life.  So,  too,  an  elect  soul  may  use 
its  natural  power  of  obedience  long  before  grace 
has  visited  it,  —  a  new  kind  of  salvation  by  the 
works  of   the   law.      The    Scriptures  abundantly 


130  WILBUR  FISK. 

teach  this  doctrine  of  human  inability :  "  Without 
me  ye  can  do  nothing ;  "  "no  man  caii  come  unto 
me  except  the  Father  draw  him."  All  the  other 
schools  of  Calvinists  agree  in  calling  Dr.  Taylor's 
theory,  that  a  man  can  regenerate  himself,  Pelagian 
error. 

Some  make  God  the  sole  agent,  and  man  purely 
passive,  in  regeneration.  The  Pelagian  error  leaves 
man  free  from  any  perilous  defect  until  his  own 
choice  should  make  him  sinful.  With  such  a 
view  of  the  nature  of  conversion,  infants  who  die 
before  the  age  of  responsible  action  must  face 
another  life  with  no  character  whatever.  As  the 
whole  work  of  regeneration  lies  in  a  change  of 
volitions,  man  is  in  no  absolute  dependence  on  the 
Holy  Ghost.     He  becomes  his  own  Saviour. 

Methodists  "  say  '  the  saving  grace  of  God  hath 
appeared  unto  all  men ; '  and  that  this  grace  so 
enlightens,  strengthens,  and  aids  the  human  mind 
that  it  is  thereby  enabled  to  make  that  choice 
which  is  the  turning-point,  conditionally,  of  the 
soul's  salvation ;  and  that  it  is  by  this  same  gra- 
cious aid  that  the  man,  when  he  has  this  good  will, 
is  enabled  to  work  out  his  salvation  to  the  end. 

"We  believe  that  the  merits  of  the  atonement 
are  so  available  in  behalf  of  the  human  family  that 
the  guilt  of  depravity  is  not  imputed  to  the  subject 
of  it  until,  by  intelligent  volitions,  he  makes  the 
guilt  his  own  by  resisting  and  rejecting  the  grace 
of  the  gospel ;  and  that,  being  thus  by  grace  in  a 
justified  state,  the  dying  infant  is  entitled  to  all 
the  blessings  of  the  new  covenant." 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  131 

Dr.  Fisk  closes  a  long  discussion  of  the  various 
views  of  natural  and  moral  ability  with  the  fol- 
lowing summary,  with  which  we  shall  have  to  be 
content,  instead  of  giving  the  details  of  his  reason- 
ing :  "  1.  Adam  did  not  render  himself  incapable 
of  sinning  by  the  fall,  but  rather  rendered  him- 
self and  his  posterity  incapable  of  any  other  moral 
exercise  but  what  was  sinful ;  and  it  was  on  this 
account  that  a  gracious  ability  was  necessary  in 
order  to  a  second  probation.  2.  Sin,  since  the 
fall,  has  not  been  the  result  of  supernatural  grace, 
but  the  natural  fruit  of  the  fall ;  and  supernatural 
grace  is  all  that  has  counteracted  sin.  3.  Man 
needed  the  grace  of  God,  both  because  he  was 
wicked  and  because  he  was  weak.  4.  The  moral 
difference  between  one  man  and  another  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  God  and  not  themselves.  We  say  the 
sinful  nature  of  man  is  changed  in  regeneration 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  5.  The  posterity 
of  Adam  did  need  a  Saviour  to  atone  for  actual 
sin.  For  actual  sin  is  the  result,  not  of  gracious 
power,  as  some  think,  but  of  a  sinful  nature  vol- 
untarily retained  and  indulged.  6.  This  opinion 
is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  doctrine  of  grace. 
7.  There  is  constant  guilt  in  the  present  rebellion 
of  the  infernal  regions.  8.  This  grace  is  a  greater 
blessing  to  our  race  than  the  fall  of  Adam  was  a 
calamity,  for  where  sin  abounded  grace  did  much 
more  abound. 

To  clear  the  ground  for  his  own  discussion  of 
the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  the  erroneous  views 


132  WILBUR  FISK. 

are  first  examined  by  Dr.  Fislc.  Tlie  first  is  the 
theory  that  man  is  entirely  passive  in  regeneration, 
or,  if  active,  active  only  in  opposition.  The  sec- 
ond is  the  theory  of  self  -  conversion.  Here  the 
spirit  "  acts  in  some  indefinable  way  through  the 
truth  as  an  instrument.  The  truth  acts  on  the 
mind  in  the  way  of  moral  suasion,  and  the  sinner, 
in  the  view  and  by  the  influence  of  truth,  resolves 
to  give  himself  to  God  and  to  his  service,  and  this 
is  regeneration. 

These  views  of  regeneration  are  carefully  tested, 
and  shown  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  dictates  of 
common  sense  and  with  the  declarations  of  Scrip- 
ture. Dr.  Fisk  thinks  these  views  exhaust  the 
possibilities  of  the  Calvinistical  system.  "  There 
can  be  but  two  alternatives:  either  God  must 
renew  the  heart,  independent  of  all  cooperation  on 
the  part  of  the  subject  of  this  change,  —  and  this 
is  the  old  doctrine  of  unconditional  divine  effi- 
ciency, —  or  the  first  acceptable  act  of  the  will 
must  be  regeneration ;  and  this  is  the  new  doctrine 
of  self-conversion." 

At  last  Dr.  risk  states  the  Scripture  doctrine  of 
regeneration  as  follows :  — 

1.  The  work  of  regeneration  is  performed  by  the 
direct  and  efficient  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  the  heart. 

2.  The  Holy  Spirit  exerts  this  regenerating 
power  only  on  conditions  to  be  complied  with  by 
the  subject  of  the  change.  The  first  statement 
would  be  denied  only  by  Socinians  (whose  \'iews 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES.  133 

are  not  debated),  and  the  persons  whose  views  he 
has  just  subjected  to  such  a  critical  discussion  as 
entitled  hiui  to  leave  them  in  order  to  discuss  the 
conditionality  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
the  resreneration  of  men. 

"  If  I  were  called  on  to  give  a  general  definition 
of  Calvinism  that  would  include  all  the  species  that 
claim  the  name,  I  would  say,  Calvinists  are  those 
who  believe  in  unconditional  regeneration.  For 
the  moment  this  point  is  given  up  by  any  one,  all 
ao'ree  that  he  is  not  a  Calvinist." 

The  Scriptures  themselves  do  not  condemn  a 
conditional  new  birth.  The  difficulties  raised  are 
mainly  of  a  metaphysical  nature :  such  are,  a  de- 
praved sinner  cannot  perform  an  acceptable  condi- 
tion until  he  is  regenerated ;  God  cannot  consist- 
ently accept  any  act  short  of  that  which  constitutes 
regeneration ;  that  the  idea  of  conditional  regener- 
ation implies  salvation  by  works,  in  part  at  least, 
and  not  wholly  by  grace. 

Neglecting  a  present  response  to  these  objec- 
tions, an  account  is  given  of  those  characteristics 
of  the  mind  which  are  the  basis  of  the  ability  to 
perform  conditions  acceptable  to  God.  1.  Con- 
science lays  the  foundation  of  the  notions  of  right 
and  wrong,  so  that  we  feel  approval  or  disapproval 
of  our  conduct,  .  .  .  and  even  in  an  unregenerate 
state  this  susceptibility  often  operates  in  accord- 
ance with  its  original  design,  and  therefore  agree- 
ably to  the  Divine  Will. 

The  intellect  may,  in  an  unregenerate  state,  be 


134  WILBUR   FISK. 

SO  enlightened  and  informed  on  the  subject  of 
divine  truth  as  to  perceive  right  and  wrong,  and 
to  perceive,  to  some  extent,  the  way  of  salvation 
pointed  out  in  the  gospel. 

That  the  affections  (often  called  the  heart)  are 
the  principal  seat  of  depravity,  and  that  these  are 
often  arrayed  in  direct  opposition  to  the  convic- 
tions of  the  judgment,  and  the  feelings  of  moral 
obligation. 

That  the  will,  or  volitional  power,  while  it  is 
more  or  less,  directly  or  indirectly,  influenced  by 
the  judgment,  the  conscience,  and  the  affections, 
is  designed  to  give  unity  and  direction  to  the 
whole  mental  action.  And  it  always  accomplishes 
this  where  there  is  a  proper  harmony  in  the  men- 
tal powers.  The  unholy  affections  have  gained 
an  undue  ascendency,  so  that  in  the  unregenerate, 
in  all  questions  of  preference  between  God  and 
the  world,  despite  conscience,  judgment,  will,  the 
world  is  loved  and  God  is  hated. 

That  in  those  cases  where  we  cannot  control  our 
affections  by  a  direct  volition,  we  may,  under  the 
promptings  of  conscience  and  in  the  light  of  the 
judgment,  resolve  against  sin ;  but  these  resolutions 
will  be  carried  away  and  overruled  by  the  strength 
of  the  carnal  mind.  This  shows  us  our  weakness 
and  drives  us  to  self-despair,  until,  under  the  en- 
lightening influence  of  grace,  and  the  drawings  of 
the  Spirit,  the  soul  is  led  to  prayer  and  to  an  abdi- 
cation of  itself  into  the  hands  of  the  Divine  Mercy 
through  Christ ;  and  then^  and  on  these  conditions^ 


THEOLOGICAL    CONTROVERSIES.  136 

the  Holy  Spirit  changes  the  character  and  current 
of  the  unholy  affections :  and  this  is  regeneration. 

"  It  is  objected  that  the  action  of  the  mind 
under  such  motives  is  purely  selfish.  .  .  .  This 
objection  to  a  mental  act,  merely  because  it  is 
prompted  by  self-love,  has  always  been  to  me  a 
matter  of  wonder.  All  alike  condemn  selfishness. 
But  that  self-love  which  leads  us  to  seek  our  own 
highest  interests,  and  especially  our  eternal  inter- 
ests, without  injury  to  others,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  Divine  Will,  is  never  thought  criminal, 
except  where  one  has  a  particular  system  to  serve 
by  such  a  notion." 

To  this  enslavement  of  the  will  by  sin  it  is  ob- 
jected that  it  destroys  accountability,  since  no  man 
is  to  blame  for  what  he  cannot  avoid.  "  But  I 
have  not  said  they  cannot  avoid  it ;  I  assert  di- 
rectly the  contrary.  Every  probationer  decides 
■whether  he  will  be  holy."  This  enthrallment  of 
the  will  to  sin  is  strongly  depicted  in  the  last  part 
of  the  seventh  and  the  first  part  of  the  eighth 
chapters  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  "  I  see 
another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the 
law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity 
to  the  law  of  sin  in  my  members."  ..."  For  the 
good  that  I  would,  I  do  not ;  but  the  evil  which  I 
woidd  not,  that  I  do."  The  same  appears  in  Gal. 
V.  17 :  "  For  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit, 
and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh ;  and  these  are  con- 
trary the  one  to  the  other,  so  that  ye  cannot  do  the 
things  ye  would."     After  setting  aside  various  ob- 


136  WILBUR  FISK. 

jections  to  his  views,  Dr.  Fisk  sums  up  the  condi- 
tional aspects  of  regeneration  as  follows  :  — 

"  Faith  seems  to  be  the  exclusive  channel  through 
which  every  gracious  effect  is  produced  on  the  mind. 
The  sinner  cannot  be  awakened  without  faith,  for  it 
precedes  every  judgment  in  favor  of  truth,  and  every 
motion  of  moral  feeUng,  and  of  course  every  favorable 
concurrence  of  the  will.  The  sinner  never  could  throw 
himself  upon  the  Divine  mercy,  never  would  embrace 
Christ  as  his  Saviour,  until  he  believed.  Hence  the 
Scriptures  lay  such  great  stress  upon  faith,  and  make 
it  the  grand,  and  indeed  the  only  immediate,  condition 
of  the  work  of  grace  upon  the  heart.  Repentance  is  a 
condition  only  remotely  in  order  to  a  justifying  faith, 
agreeably  to  the  teaching  of  Christ :  '  And  ye,  when  ye 
had  heard,  afterward  repented  not,  that  ye  might  be- 
lieve on  him.'  But  faith  is  necessary  immediately,  as 
that  mental  state  directly  antecedent  to  the  giving  up 
the  soul  into  the  hands  of  the  Divine  mercy.  And  shall 
we  still  be  told  that  faith  is  not  the  condition  of  regener- 
ation ?  The  order  of  the  work  seems  to  be  :  1.  A  degree 
of  faith  in  order  to  repentance ;  2.  Repentance,  in  or- 
der to  such  an  increase  of  faith  as  will  lead  the  soul  to 
throw  itself  upon  Christ ;  3.  The  giving  up  the  soul 
to  Christ  as  the  only  ground  of  hope  ;  4.  The  change 
of  heart  by  the  efficient  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Now,  on  whichever  of  these  four  stages  of  the  process, 
except  the  first,  the  objector  lays  his  finger  and  says, 
That  is  not  a  condition  of  regeneration,  for  it  is  regen- 
eration itself,  it  will  be  seen  that  that  very  part,  call  it 
regeneration  or  what  you  will,  is  conditional.  If,  for 
instance,  he  fix  on  the  second  stage,  and  contend  that 


THEOLOGICAL    CONTROVERSIES.  137 

that  is  regeneration,  which  I  call  repentance  in  order  to 
regenerating  faith,  —  even  that  would  be  conditional,  for 
this  repentance  is  preceded  by  faith  ;  and  so  of  all  that 
follow.  And  surely  no  one  will  contend  that  what  I  call 
the  first  stage,  the  faith  which  precedes  awakening  and 
remorse  of  conscience,  and  the  exciting  alternations  of 
hope  and  fear  in  the  anxious  and  inquiring  sinnei*,  is 
regeneration." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   EDUCATOR.  —  WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Education  to 
the  General  Conference  in  1828  was  a  long;  and 
able  document  drawn  by  Wilbur  Fisk.  It  begins 
with  a  statement  of  the  efforts  already  made  in 
different  conferences  to  comply  with  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Conference  of  1820,  that  classical 
schools  should  be  established  within  the  bounds 
and  under  the  patronage  of  the  annual  confer- 
ences.    The  work  is  summarized  as  follows  :  — 

"  In  review  of  the  whole,  we  find  the  successful  efforts 
in  the  different  conferences  to  promote  the  cause  of  liter- 
ature and  science  have  increased  very  considerably  since 
the  last  General  Conference.  There  are  six  or  seven 
promising  institutions  in  successful  operation,  two  of 
them  having  college  charters,  namely,  Madison  College 
and  Augusta  College,  which  are  already  prepared  to  take 
students  through  a  regular  course,  and  confer  upon  them 
the  ordinary  degrees  and  literary  honors  of  such  insti- 
tutions, and  hold  forth  encouragements  and  assurances 
that  authorize  us  to  commend  them  to  the  jmtronage  of 
our  friends.  Other  institutions  are  advancing  to  the 
same  standing,  and  several  more  are  contemplated  and 
will  soon  be  in  operation.  It  is  a  matter  that  calls  for 
special  gratitude  to  God  that  revivals  of  religion  are  so 


THE  EDUCATOR.—  WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.     139 

frequent  in  our  colleges.  This  ought  to  encourage  and 
stimulate  our  people  to  patronize  these  institutions.  .  .  . 
"  The  subject  of  education  ought  to  be  considered  of 
special  importance  and  of  special  interest  to  Methodist 
ministers,  both  as  it  respects  their  own  usefulness  and 
that  of  their  families.  A  cultivated  church  will  have  a 
cultivated  ministry." 

The  report  ends  with  these  resokitions :  — 

"  1.  Our  people  are  not  sufficiently  awake  as  yet  to 
establish  a  university  for  the  whole  connection. 

"  2.  Not  half  the  conferences  are  yet  provided  with 
academies  under  their  own  patronage,  and  we  think  it 
more  congenial  with  our  religion,  our  civil  government, 
and  the  good  of  society  to  make  provision  for  the  com- 
mon instruction  of  the  many  before  we  exert  ourselves 
to  endow  and  establish  a  university  for  the/ew. 

*'  It  is  still  questionable  whether,  even  for  the  most 
liberal  course  of  education,  one  university  for  the  whole 
connection  would,  on  the  whole,  be  so  well  patronized 
and  attended  as  two  or  three. 

"  Single  conferences,  or  groups  of  two  or  three  con- 
ferences, should  establish  seminaries  that  shall  promote 
literature,  morality,  industry,  and  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  arts  of  useful  life.  .  .  .  God  will  give  success  to 
their  labors,  so  that  not  only  their  own  children  but 
future  generations  will  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed." 

In  Cazenovia,  New  York,  and  Kent's  Hill, 
Maine,  academies  had  been  established  like  that 
at  Wilbraham.  Here  young  men  were  prepared 
for  college,  but  when  they  were  ready  no  Metho- 
dist college  could  readily  be  found  to  take  the 
further  charge  of  their  education.     It  was  obvious 


140  WILBUR  FJSK. 

that  such  a  condition  of  things  could  not  continue 
with  safety.  There  was  much  talk  of  expanding 
the  Wesleyan  Academy  at  Wilbraham  into  a  col- 
lege. The  people  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and  of 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  put  forth  efforts  to  secure  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  i^roposed  college  amongst  them- 
selves. The  "  American  Literary,  Scientific,  and 
Military  Academy  "  had  been  opened  at  Middle- 
town,  Conn.,  in  1825,  by  Captain  Alden  Partridge, 
the  fu-st  superintendent  of  the  United  States  Mili- 
tary Academy  at  West  Point.  Failure  to  obtain 
a  charter  in  Connecticut  ultimately  led  Captain 
Partridge  to  remove  his  institution  to  Norwich, 
Vt. 

Thus  the  two  solid  and  spacious  stone  buildings 
erected  for  the  use  of  the  military  school,  with  the 
grounds  and  other  property,  were  left  unoccupied. 
This  entire  propei'ty,  valued  at  f  30,000,  was  of- 
fered to  a  joint  committee  of  the  New  York  and 
the  New  England  Conferences  on  two  conditions : 
first,  that  it  should  always  be  used  as  a  university; 
and,  second,  that  $40,000  should  be  raised  for  an 
endowment  fund.  This  fund  was  soon  raised,  a 
board  of  trustees  appointed,  and  the  college  was 
established  under  the  name  of  "  The  Wesleyan 
University." 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Joint  Board  of 
Trustees  and  Visitors  of  the  infant  college.  Dr. 
Fisk  was  elected  President  of  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity. After  some  hesitation,  an  answer  was  sent 
in  these  terms :  — • 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLETAN   UNIVERSITY.     141 

"To  the  Joint  Board  of  Trustees  and  Visitors  of  the 
Wesleyan  U)iiversity  now  in  session  at  Middletown, 
Conn. 

"  Gentlemen,  —  With  a  high  seuse  of  the  confidence 
reposed  in  me  by  a  majority  of  your  board,  in  electing 
me  president  of  your  proposed  university,  I  tender  you 
my  sincere  and  grateful  acknowledgments.  I  have  a 
deep  conviction  of  my  own  inability  to  perform  the  im- 
portant and  responsible  duties  connected  with  this  ap- 
pointment. In  accordance,  however,  with  the  judgment 
of  my  friends,  and  in  reliance  upon  the  cordial  and 
united  aid  of  the  board,  and  of  the  colleagues  who  have 
been  or  may  be  appointed,  and  especially  in  a  humble 
reliance  upon  Almighty  God,  without  whose  assistance 
the  most  gifted  labor  in  vain,  I  will  engage  to  the  ex- 
tent of  my  ability  in  the  service  of  the  board,  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  assigned  me,  as  soon  as  I  can,  in 
honor  and  justice,  disengage  myself  from  my  present 
relation  to  another  institution. 

"  W.  FiSK." 

It  was  not  until  the  ensuing  spring  tliat  Dr. 
risk  removed  his  family  from  AVilbrahani  to 
Middletown.  Had  Dr.  Fisk  had  his  o\\ti  way, 
the  opening  of  the  college  would  have  been  de- 
ferred until  the  fall  of  1832,  that  the  intervening 
time  miglit  be  devoted  to  the  work  of  making  the 
best  possible  arrangements  for  svich  an  enterprise. 
The  halls  of  the  University  were  thrown  open  for 
the  admission  of  students  the  21st  of  September, 
1831,  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  From  the 
Inaugural  Address  of  Dr.  Fisk  we  gather  the 
scope,  peculiarities,  and  the  prospects  of  the  new 


142  WILBUR  F/SK. 

institution.       His    theme   was,    "The   Science   of 
Education." 

Education  aims  at  two  things, — the  good  of  the 
educated  man,  and  the  good  of  the  world.     Omit- 
ting the  first  point  as  too   evident  to  be  debated, 
attention  is  drawn  to  arguments  to  show  that  edu- 
cation should  look  steadily  at  the  improvement  of 
the  world.     The  greater  ease  of  travel  and  commu- 
nication these  days  renders  mutual   interest  and 
mutual  acquaintance  most  natural  and  desirable. 
"  The  general  interests  of  learning,  and  the  mutual 
alliance  of  the  friends  of  literature,  also  greatly 
increase  this  general  union.     These,  though  scat- 
tered over  the  world,  form  a  republic  of  them- 
selves, and  are  drawn  together  by  cords  that  no 
distance  can  attenuate,  and  bound  by  connections 
that  no  vanities  can  sever.     They  all  drink  from 
the    same    fountains  without  jealousy,   and  climb 
up  the  same  intellectual  elevations  without  envy ; 
for  the  attainments  of  each  are  the  property  of 
all."      The  Christianity  of  the  age  sees  in  every 
man  a  brother,  and  in  every  land  a  fresh  realm  of 
Christ.      The  same  spirit  has  free   sweep  in  the 
political  world. 

Under  these  circumstance  the  function  of  Chris- 
tian education  becomes  very  sei'ious:  "Ministers 
and  merchants,  lawyers  and  physicians,  teachers 
and  statesmen,  farmers  and  mechanics,  authors  and 
artists,  all  are  wanted  in  this  work,  and  wanted 
in  greater  abundance  than  can  be  supplied."  He 
would  have  men  of  all  professions  alike  serve  God 


TEE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.    143 

in  their  professional  careers,  and  will  have  it  that 
any  lower  view  is  base  and  pernicious.  He  thinks 
that  nowhere  else  are  there  so  many  or  such  good 
materials  for  such  an  education  as  here  in  New 
England. 

"  A  young  man  thus  educated  is  prepared  for  active 
life.  He  is  prepared  to  rely  upon  himself ;  his  habits 
of  industry  and  economy  are  formed ;  and  he,  of  all 
others,  is  the  man  for  the  great  interests  of  the  world." 

Next  he  asks  what  tone  and  character  should  be 
given  to  the  minds  of  the  pupils,  what  knowledge 
imparted  to  secure  these  great  purposes. 

Education  should  procure  the  physical,  the  in- 
tellectual, and  moral  perfection  of  its  recipients. 
If  a  man  cannot  combine  great  knowledge  with 
great  usefulness,  let  him  prefer  usefulness.  "  The 
great  object  which  we  propose  to  ourselves  in  the 
work  of  education  is  to  supply,  as  far  as  we  may, 
men  who  will  be  both  wnlling  and  competent  to 
effect  the  political,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  regen- 
eration of  the  world." 

With  the  best  mental  training  should  go  very 
careful  attention  to  bodily  health.  Dr.  Fisk  was 
still,  though  not  without  some  misgiving,  inclined 
to  rate  the  physical  exertion  of  farming  or  of 
working  in  shops,  the  best  form  of  physical  exer- 
cise. "  The  mind  should  be  cultivated  with  direct 
reference  to  the  object  of  making  the  pupil  a  man 
of  enterprise  and  acti^dty.  Everything  that  is 
calculated  to  call  forth  such  a  spirit   should  be 


144  WILBUR  FISK. 

cherished,  and  everything  which  discourages  it 
should  be  discountenanced."  Independence,  self- 
dependence,  intellectual  alertness,  and  enlightened 
and  universal  benevolence,  are  traits  which  educa- 
tion ought  to  bring  out  into  rich  and  effective 
operation. 

"  Modern  literature,  the  natural  and  exact  sciences, 
and  the  application  of  the  sciences  to  the  useful  arts, 
are  first  in  importance  in  a  useful  education.  Next  in 
order  I  would  place  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  and 
the  kindred  sciences  ;  last,  and  least  in  consequence  for 
the  great  portion  of  students,  I  would  place  ancient 
literature,  the  graces  of  learning,  and  the  fine  arts.  .  .  . 
If  a  knowledge  of  the  ancient  languages  were  of  no 
other  importance  than  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  secure  a  correct  translation  of 
them  into  other  languages,  this  of  itself  would  keep 
them  in  credit,  and  make  a  critical  study  of  them  neces- 
sary. .  .  . 

"  It  may  be  proper  that  most  students,  who  have  an 
opportunity  of  commencing  their  education  early  and 
of  pursuing  it  without  embarrassment,  should  obtain 
some  general  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  lan- 
guages ;  especially  as  there  is  an  age  in  the  development 
of  the  youthful  mind  in  which  language  can  be  pursued 
to  greater  advantage  than  any  other  study.  And  if,  at 
that  age,  a  good  foundation  can  be  laid  for  a  knowledge 
of  etymology,  of  philology  in  general,  and  for  a  more 
ready  attainment  of  the  modern  languages,  this  might 
be  advantageous  to  the  pu2)il." 

After  touching  upon  the  whole  material  side  of 
education  with  breadth  and  liberality,  Dr.  Fisk 
says : — 


THE  EDUCATOR.- WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.    145 

"  The  proper  organization  of  the  board  of  instruction 
is  a  matter  of  great  moment  and  of  difficult  attainment. 
All  agree  that  they  should  be  united  among  themselves ; 
that  they  should  be  men  of  learning,  apt  to  teach,  in- 
dustrious in  their  habits,  energetic  and  enterprising  in 
their  character,  interested  in  their  work,  and  faithful  in 
the  performance  of  their  duties.  But  how  to  obtain 
such  men,  how  to  keep  them  after  they  are  put  in  place, 
and  how  to  get  rid  of  them  if  they  do  not  prove  such, 
are  questions  that  have  never  been  satisfactorily  settled. 
After  the  greatest  precautions,  improper  persons  may  be 
introduced  into  the  board  of  instruction." 

To  hinder  such  dangers  Dr.  Fisk  would  have 
the  faculty  partners  in  filling  every  vacancy  in 
their  board,  have  the  salary  rise  with  the  growing 
success  of  each  officer,  and  have  incompetent  in- 
structors removed  from  office. 

"  A  college  corporation  should  have  a  committee  to 
examine  into  the  standing  of  their  officers  of  instruction, 
as  regularly  as  one  to  audit  the  accounts  of  their  treas- 
urer. And  to  do  this  it  is  not  necessary  to  examine 
these  officers.  Their  official  character  will  be  written 
on  the  mind  of  their  pupils,  and  may  be  known  and  read 
of  all  men.  It  has  been  well  said,  that  '  he  who  cannot 
put  his  mark  upon  a  student  is  not  fit  to  have  one.'  ^ 
Let  it  be  a  condition  of  office,  that  when  a  teacher's 
pupils  are  deficient,  he  must  give  place  to  another." 

As  to  government,  he  would  have  it  proceed 
wholly  from  the  faculty. 

"  A  code  of  statute  laws  for  the  officers  to  execute 
among  the  students  will  never  be  respected.  .  .  .  The 
1  Dr.  F.  Wayland. 


146  WILBUR  FISK. 

intercourse  between  the  student  and  the  president  and 
professors  should  be  of  an  affectionate  and  familiar  char- 
acter. I  cannot  close  these  remarks  on  the  subject  of 
government  without  giving  my  decided  testimony  in  fa- 
vor of  a  moral  and  religious  influence  to  aid  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  youth.  This  is  of  paramount  importance. 
Several  years'  experience  in  the  government  of  a  liter- 
ary institution  has  convinced  me  that  there  is  nothing 
like  it.  With  such  an  influuence,  government  is  easy; 
without  it,  good  government  is  impossible." 

In  reference  to  the  classification  and  gradua- 
tion of  students,  Dr.  Fisk  would  have  had  the  old 
method  of  arranging  them  by  years  given  up,  in 
order  that  they  might  be  distributed  in  all  the 
departments  in  which  they  were  studying  any 
given  year.  In  this  way  class  distinctions  based 
on  time  would  be  done  away,  and  you  could  only 
learn  by  the  college  catalogues  in  how  many  de- 
partments a  man  was  at  work,  and  how  far  ad- 
vanced he  was  in  each.  By  this  method  it  was 
thought  that  the  less  faithful  or  less  able  students 
might  be  retained  in  college  until  they  could  pass 
a  satisfactory  examination  in  all  their  work,  while 
the  abler  men  might  be  graduated  on  the  actual 
completion  of  their  course  ;  while  weak  and  shiftless 
students  would  not  obtain  their  diplomas  merely 
because  they  had  been  four  years  in  college,  and 
had  taken  in  as  much  scholarship  as  would  just 
pass  them  uji  at  the  end  of  each  year.  The  uned- 
ucated graduate  ought  to  disappear. 

It  is  certain   that  Dr.   Fisk  overestimated  the 


THE  EDUCATOR.  —WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.    147 

efficiency  of  his  measures  to  suppress  the  uned- 
ucated graduate.  It  is  also  certain  that  the  new 
mode  of  classification  did  not  attract  a  large  num- 
ber of  students,  whose  circumstances  or  age  com- 
pelled them  to  forego  a  classical  education,  to  the 
Scientific  Course  he  had  blocked  out  for  them  with 
the  appropriate  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science.  Of 
the  one  hundred  and  fifteen  who  graduated  under 
the  presidency  of  Dr.  Fisk  only  five  took  the  sci- 
ence degree,  while  all  the  rest  took  the  regular 
classical  degrees.  In  1836  the  students  were  first 
classified  by  their  year  in  college  and  not  by  de- 
partments, an  innovation  which  has  proved  per- 
manent. After  a  year  or  two  the  salaries  of  the 
professors  were  equalized.  Thus  two  features  of 
the  institution  upon  which  Dr.  Fisk  laid  great 
stress  disappeared  forever.  The  scheme  of  turn- 
ing the  daily  exercise  of  the  students  into  profita- 
ble farm-work  or  shop-work  remained  a  dream,  in 
spite  of  much  talking  and  some  vigorous  resolving 
on  its  behalf.  So,  one  after  another,  the  vision- 
ary elements  of  the  new  scheme  were  detected  and 
thrown  aside.  The  Classical  Course  has  main- 
tained itself  to  this  day.  The  English  and  Scien- 
tific Course  is  represented  by  two  courses,  the  Sci- 
entific and  Latin  -  Scientific  Courses.  It  was  not 
until  the  other  courses  were  made  nearly  equal  to 
the  Classical  in  the  preparation  required  for  enter- 
ing them,  and  the  time  and  labor  demanded  for 
successfully  executing  them,  that  the  non-classical 
or  half-classical  students  felt  their  position  respect- 


148  WILBUR  FJSK. 

able  and  respected.  But  while  these  varying  plans 
were  being  tested  thus  by  actual  experiment,  and 
the  administration  was  shaped  in  harmony  with  the 
logic  of  actual  results,  Dr.  Fisk  was  creating  a  new 
colleo:e  under  circumstances  which  showed  the  hand 
of  a  master  builder.  We  have  already  seen  how 
difficult  and  how  important  he  deemed  the  obtain- 
ing and  retaining  of  a  proper  faculty.  If  we  con- 
sider with  due  care  all  the  conditions  under  which 
the  first  faculty  was  collected  and  organized,  we 
shall  see  how  wise  the  mind  that  planned  and  how 
skillful  the  brain  which  pondered  the  conditions  of 
the  development  of  this  facvdty.  The  first  charter 
of  Wesleyan  University  provided  that  men  of  any 
religious  creed  might  become  students  in  Wesleyan 
University,  and  that  no  religious  test  should  be 
exacted  of  any  person  elected  to  any  office  in  the 
institution.  At  first,  this  principle  was  carried 
out  by  the  election  of  certain  officers  who  were 
not  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Certain  facts  must  be  borne  in  mind  if  we  would 
understand  how  difficult  this  especial  task,  the 
creation  of  a  proper  faculty,  was.  First,  the  sala- 
ries offered  were  not  such  as  would  attract  able 
men  from  the  service  of  other  colleges ;  and  there 
were  no  other  Methodist  colleges  from  which 
trained  men  could  be  di-awn.  The  only  places 
where  men  were  to  be  found  who  had  obtained 
any  experience  in  teaching  were  the  seminaries  at 
Wilbraham,  Cazenovia,  White  Plains,  and  Kent's 
Hill.      It  was  even  more  important  than  it  was 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEY  AN   UNIVERSITY.     149 

difficult  to  obtain  the  best  man  for  each  place  from 
such  stinted  sources  of  supply ;  for  the  fame  of  the 
wrong  man  in  any  place  travels  swifter  and  further 
than  the  countervailing  success  of  his  colleagues 
can.  Then  the  removal  of  an  unfit  man  is  slow 
and  painful  and  harmful.  Let  us  look  at  the 
names  of  the  men  who  were  members  of  the  faculty 
of  Wesleyan  University  in  Dr.  Fisk's  days.  They 
were,  Rev.  John  Mott  Smith,  the  Rev.  John  Price 
Durbin,  Mr.  Augustus  W.  Smith,  the  Rev.  Jacob 
r.  Huber,  Lieut.  W.  W.  Mather,  Rev.  D.  D. 
Whedon,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Holdich,  Mr.  John 
Johnston,  Mr.  William  Magoun,  Mr.  Willard  M. 
Rice,  the  Rev.  William  M.  Willitt,  Mr.  Loren  L. 
Knox,  Oliver  P.  Hubbard,  and  D.  H.  Chase. 

Li  Methodist  circles  it  would  be  lost  pains  to 
praise  John  Price  Durbin,  the  famous  pulpit 
orator,  chaplain  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
known  world-wide  for  his  brilliant  career  as  mis- 
sionary secretary.  Mr.  Augustus  W.  Smith, 
LL.  D.,  after  a  brilliant  career  as  Professor  of 
Mathematics  in  the  Wesleyan  University,  was 
elected  the  fourth  president  of  the  college  in  1852, 
which  office  he  filled  acceptably  until  1857.  Rev. 
Daniel  D.  AVhedon,  after  a  promising  career  as 
head  of  classical  studies  in  Wesleyan  University, 
entered  the  ministry  for  a  few  years,  when  he  be- 
came a  professor  in  the  University  of  Michigan, 
where  he  continued  until  driven  away,  by  growing 
deafness  and  political  management,  from  the  work 
of  teaching.      In  1856  Dr.  Whedon  was  elected 


150  WILBUR  FISK. 

editor  of  the  "  Methodist  Quarterly  Review,"  an 
office  in  which  he  was  continued,  by  successive 
quadrennial  reelections,  twenty-eight  years.  Dr. 
Whedon  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  pains- 
taking of  American  editors.  His  work  on  the 
"  Freedom  of  the  Will,"  his  "  Commentary  on  the 
New  Testament,"  intended  for  popular  use,  and 
two  volumes  of  Essays,  show  powers  of  the  high- 
est range  and  capacity.  Mr.  John  Johnston  was 
for  forty-two  years  Professor  of  Natural  Science 
in  Wesleyan  University.  Rev.  Joseph  Holdich, 
though  not  a  college  graduate,  was  a  capable,  indus- 
trious, and  useful  college  officer,  until  he  was  made 
one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
an  office  in  which  he  served  the  church  with  great 
fidelity,  until  the  failure  of  his  sight  compelled  his 
retirement.  The  other  professor  of  those  days, 
the  Rev,  John  Mott  Smith,  was  a  graduate  of  Co- 
lumbia College,  who  had  been  engaged  in  teach- 
ing several  years  before  he  was  made  Professor 
of  Ancient  Languages  at  the  organization  of  the 
new  faculty.  Mr.  Smith  was  cut  off  suddenly  ere 
his  work  at  the  college  had  gone  beyond  its  begin- 
ning's. Those  who  had  the  best  means  for  know- 
ing  him  and  his  work  felt  that  his  career,  had  his 
life  been  spared,  would  have  been  as  brilliant  and 
useful  as  that  of  any  other  member  of  this  remark- 
able faculty.  The  office  of  tutor  in  that  early 
time  was  held  by  Mr.  William  Magoun,  Oliver  P. 
Hubbard,  Daniel  H.  Chase,  Mr.  Willard  M.  Rice, 
Rev.  W.  M.  Willitt,  and  Mr.  Loren   L.  Knox. 


THE   EDUCATOR.  — WESLEY  AN   UNIVERSITY.     151 

Lieutenant  W.  W.  Mather  was  acting-Professor  of 
Natural  Science  at  Wesleyan  University  for  the 
year  1833-34.     The  same  faultless  judgment  which 
found  the  right  man  for  every  professorship  that 
was  established,  was  apparent  also  in  the  selections 
for  the  minor  positions  in  the  board  of  instruction. 
Lieutenant  Mather  was  a  graduate  of  the  Military 
Academy  at  "West  Point,  who  had  been  an  assist- 
ant there  in  the  same  studies  which  he  was  em- 
ployed  to   teach   at   Wesleyan   University.      His 
subsequent  military  and  scientific  career  shows  his 
fitness  for  services  of  a  high  order  in  his  favorite 
lines  of  study.     Mr.  Oliver  P.  Hubbard,  a  graduate 
of  Yale  College,  gave  sure  token  as  tutor  in  Wes- 
leyan University  of  fitness  for  advancement  to  a 
college  professorship,  which  he  won  at  Dartmouth. 
Mr.  Daniel  H.  Chase,  the  first  graduate  of  Wes- 
leyan University,  here  opened  brilliantly  his  career 
of  life-lonof  service  in  the  cause  of  education.     Mr. 
W.   M.    Rice    has   had   an  honorable  and  useful 
career  in  the  pastoral  service  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church;   while  Mr.  Knox  and  Mr.   Willitt  have 
been  quite  as  distinguished  pastors   in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.      Mr.  William  Magoun, 
a  graduate  of  Brown  University  in  the  year  1823, 
ran  a  somewhat  peculiar  career,  but  one  of  such 
hiffh  distinction  as  to  show  that  he  was  a  man  of 
marked   endowments  and    eminent  culture.       He 
taught  in  Brooklyn  and  New  York  after  leaving 
MiddletowTi ;    then  practiced  law  awhile  in  New 
York,  when  he  became  private  secretary  and  tutor 


152  WILBUR  FISK. 

in  the  family  of  Hon.  Nathan  Niles,  United  States 
charge  cVajfaires  at  Turin,  Italy.  In  this  and 
similar  positions  he  continued  to  act  until  1871. 
In  1867-68  he  was  consular  agent  of  the  United 
States  for  Turin  and  the  provinces.  He  taught 
Italian  and  English  in  Turin,  and  was  once  Eng- 
lish tutor  to  the  royal  family  at  Turin.  He  died 
there  in  1871.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  courtly 
manners,  varied  and  elegant  accomplishments,  and 
greatly  loved  and  trusted  by  his  acquaintances. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  none  of  the  men 
appointed  to  different  positions  on  the  board  of  in- 
struction in  Dr.  Fisk's  days  was  removed  from  it 
on  account  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  quality  of 
his  work.  Death  and  calls  to  better  positions  else- 
where were  the  sole  ground  of  the  only  changes 
made  in  the  first  faculty  of  the  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity, with  a  single  exception,  Professor  Huber,  the 
first  Professor  of  Modern  Languages.  Mr.  Huber 
had  studied  in  the  Gymnasium  of  Basle,  his  native 
place,  so  that  German  was  his  mother  tongue, 
while  his  knowledge  of  French,  Spanish  and  Ital- 
ian was  broad  and  accurate.  He  had  already 
served  five  years  as  instructor  in  modern  languages 
in  Dickinson  College,  when  he  came  to  Wesleyan. 
Mr.  Huber's  department  was  one  about  which  Dr. 
Fisk  had  no  personal  ability  to  decide,  and  was 
one  where  he  was  compelled  to  trust  to  recommen- 
dations from  others.  Such  commendations  Mr. 
Huber  must  have  been  able  to  present.  The  only 
fault  ever  charged  to  Mr.  Huber  was  a  want  of 
self-control. 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.    153 

This  simple  story  is  enough  to  reveal  the  re- 
markable gift  for  organization  and  administration 
of  Wilbur  Fisk.  As  we  see  this  set  of  seminary 
teachers  gradually  transformed  into  a  college  fac- 
ulty which  so  far  commanded  public  respect  and 
confidence  as  to  collect  a  body  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  students  around  them  long  before  Wilbur 
risk's  death,  we  are  involuntarily  reminded  of  the 
story  of  the  artist's  apprentice,  who  was  employed 
merely  to  aid  his  master  in  such  j)arts  of  the  work 
of  fashioning  a  gorgeous  cathedral  window  into  a 
splendid  artistic  masterpiece  as  could  be  wrought 
by  rude  and  untaught  hands,  but  whose  untutored 
hands  wrought  the  broken  and  rejected  fragments, 
which  had  been  flung  aside  as  worthless,  into  such 
a  matcliless  creation  of  peerless  art  as  far  outshone 
his  own  master's  masterpiece.  If  there  was  a  bet- 
ter or  wiser  administration  in  the  early  days  of  any 
other  New  England  college  than  this,  it  has  not 
come  to  my  knowledge. 

In  his  relations  with  the  other  members  of  the 
faculty,  Dr.  Fisk  was  as  nearly  a  model  as  we  may 
well  hope  to  see.  He  took  a  very  friendly  attitude 
towards  every  associate  in  the  board  of  instruction, 
for  he  felt  profoundly  the  importance  of  prompt- 
ing every  man  to  the  greatest  exertion  in  the  im- 
provement of  his  powers  of  mind  and  opportunities 
for  usefulness.  He  knew  everything  about  them 
in  their  relation  to  the  coUege  and  the  public  by 
observation,  by  inquiry,  by  conversation.  When 
he  was  absent  for  any  time,  a  frank  and  detailed 


154  WILBUR  FISK. 

correspondence  kept  him  informed  as  to  the  turn 
things  were  taking  during  his  absence.  Thus  was 
such  an  atmosphere  of  vitality,  of  hopefulness,  and 
of  mutual  affection  created  as  would  readily  bring 
the  college  instruction  to  a  high  degree  of  effi- 
ciency. If  the  income  of  the  college  was  not  al- 
ways sufficient  to  pay  all  the  salaries  of  the  offi- 
cers, the  only  salary  which  was  ever  suffered  to  go 
unpaid  was  President  Fisk's.  This  was  probably 
the  result  of  the  president's  natural  thoughtfulness 
for  others,  though  it  was  also  the  dictate  of  the 
soundest  business  principles. 

Of  the  instruction  of  President  Fisk,  Dr.  Hol- 
dich  says  :  — 

"  He  generally  heard  only  one  daily  recitation,  and  at- 
tended to  the  weekly  exei'cises  in  composition  and  decla- 
mation. The  subjects  included  in  his  course  of  instruc- 
tion were  such  as  are  common  in  most  American  colleges 
in  the  junior  and  senior  years,  embracing  Rhetoric, 
Evidences  of  Christianity,  Logic,  Ethics,  Mental  Philos- 
ophy, with  Political  Economy,  and  the  Elements  of 
Constitutional  Law.  His  recitations  were  always  con- 
ducted from  a  text-book,  but  without  a  servile  adherence 
to  the  author ;  and  his  mode  of  questioning  was  adapted 
to  ascertain  both  how  closely  the  students  had  studied 
the  lesson,  and  how  far  they  understood  the  subject.  He 
allowed,  and  even  encouraged,  the  utmost  freedom  on 
the  part  of  the  class  ;  took  pains  to  awaken  interest ; 
patiently  listened  to  what  any  member  had  to  say  ;  and 
satisfied,  as  far  as  possible,  all  inquirers.  Frequently  he 
would  illustrate  the  lesson  by  some  stroke  of  humor  or 
a  pleasant  anecdote  ;   always  taking  care,  however,  to 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.     155 

maintain  a  proper  dignity  while  thus  ministering  at  once 
to  instruction   and  entertainment.     In   short  his  inter- 
course with  his  chisses  had  more  the  air  of  familiar  con- 
verse than  of  formal  recitations.     He  seemed  to  address 
them  ex  animo  rather  than  ex  cathedra.     Thus  he  not 
only  kept  the  mind  of  the  student  constantly  on  the  alert, 
but  also  united  in  a  good  degree  the  advantages  both 
of  recitations  and  lectures.     Courses  of  lectures  he  did 
not  deliver,  either  because  he  preferred  the  other  mode 
of  teaching,  or  because  his  various  engagements  did  not 
allow  him  to  prepare  them.     But  he  delivered  lectures 
occasionally,  either  on  such  portions  of  the  subject  as  he 
thought  not  clearly  or  satisfactorily  treated  in  the  text- 
books, or  on  such  topics  as  he  desired  to  expand  or  en- 
force.    These  lectures  were  sometimes  before  the  whole 
college."  ^ 

It  was  in  his  relations  with  the  stiidents  that  the 
peculiar  charm  and  force  of  Dr.  Fisk's  system  lay. 
He  thought  it  so  important  that  he  should  have 
ample  opportunities  for  this  work  that  he  curtailed 
his  class-room  work  in  its  favor,  and  he  gave  him- 
self to  it  with  the  most  unsparing  zeal  and  affec- 
tion.    He  was  much  occupied  by  calls  from  all  his 
associates  in  order  to  obtain  the  advice,  sympathy, 
and  impulse  of  his  practical  and  experienced  mind. 
But,  however  busy  he  might  be  in   any  of  these 
ways,  he  always  had  time  enough  for  full,  careful, 
and  earnest  conversation  with  any  student  who  felt 
the  need  or  made  an  occasion  for  a  free  conversa- 
tion with  him.     In  this  way  he  came  to  know  very 
thoroughly  the  make-up,  the  circumstances  and  pos- 
1  Holdich,  Life  of  Wilbur  Fisk,  p.  322. 


156  WILBUR  FISK. 

sibilities  of  the  whole  body  of  the  students  under 
his  care.    Hence  any  advice  he  gave  them  in  regard 
to  their  college  duties,  or  their  personal  pursuits 
after  graduation,  was  uniformly  marked  by  good 
sense,  by  insight  into  their  wants  and  needs,  and 
by  a  generous  faith  in  their  devotion  to  the  highest 
interests  of  mankind.    They  felt  that  he  had  a  pro- 
found personal  interest  in  their  honorable  charac- 
ter and  their  usefulness  in  life.     They  felt  it  an 
honor  and   privilege  that  such  a  man  as  he  w^as 
should  be  their  friend  and  adviser.     One   of  the 
most  common  remarks  made  by  the  men  who  stud- 
ied under  Dr.  Fisk  is  this  :  "  Whenever  I  find  my- 
self in  a  situation  of  difficulty  and  delicacy,  I  usu- 
ally ask  myself  how  Dr.  Fisk  would  have  acted  in 
my  situation,  and  when  I  have  found  a  reasonable 
answer  to  that  question,  I  know  what  to  do  my- 
self."    Like  all  good  and  wise  advisers,  this  coun- 
selor's   special   helpfulness   lay  in   his  fidelity  in 
pointing  out  the  true  course  to  be  taken.     Advis- 
ers there  are  who  are  spoken  of  as  wise,  sympa- 
thetic, and  helpful,  —  whose  sole  wisdom   lies  in 
catching  the  secret  bias  of  those  who  consult  them, 
and  telling  them  to  obey  that.     Dr.  Fisk  was  no 
such   silly  echo  of  other  men's  wishes  and  hopes. 
He  showed  the  wisdom  of  taking  the  hard  rather 
than  the  easy  path,  the  true  rather  than  the  pop- 
ular course,  the  religious  rather  than  the  godless 
life.     He  not  only  made  men  see  that  these  were 
the  best  paths  for  men  to  walk  in,  but  he  made 
them  feel  that  no  other  course  must  be  thought  of 


TUE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.    157 

for  a  moment,  because  the  high  and  honorable  line 
of  conduct  was  possible  for  them  all.  Dr.  Fisk 
was  himself  such  an  example  of  all  the  virtues  he 
commended  to  others,  that  his  words  came  home  to 
men's  hearts  with  great  impressiveness.  It  is  mar- 
velous how  a  right  example  reinforces  the  might 
of  right  words.  A  man  whose  preaching  has  not 
persuaded  himself,  whose  life  exhibits  all  the  weak- 
nesses and  vices  he  censures  in  others,  who  wants 
the  supreme  wisdom  he  would  commend  to  others, 
can  never  be  a  successful  teacher  or  preacher  in 
the  way  of  influencing  character.  Dr.  Fisk's  su- 
preme appeal  to  his  students  came  from  the  per- 
fect blending  in  his  own  life  and  character  of  all 
the  \'irtues  and  characteristics  he  commended  to 
them.  He  was  himself  in  a  rare  degree  all  that  he 
would  lead  them  to  be.  And  he  was  so,  not  by  the 
accident  of  a  hajjpy  constitution,  a  singular  career, 
or  special  gifts  of  divine  gi-ace,  but  by  fidelity  to 
homely  and  lowly  duties,  by  using  forces  offered  to 
all  alike,  and  by  obedience  to  light  which  shines 
alike  for  all. 

Nor  did  he  fail  to  point,  to  any  who  doubted  of 
the  possibility  of  their  attaining  the  traits  of  char- 
acter he  recommended,  that  the  divine  Saviour's 
ears  are  open  to  the  cries  of  the  humblest  and 
worst.  Hence  the  possession  of  the  highest  char- 
acter was  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  all.  The 
religious  side  of  the  students  was  thus  appealed  to 
in  the  noblest  and  most  sjiiritual  way.  Low  charac- 
ter, unspirituality  of  soul,  living  for  any  but  the 


158  WILBUR  FISK. 

highest  ends,  all  assumed  in  his  presence  their  nat- 
ural shame  and  deformity.  They  were  crimes  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  marks  of  shameful  degrada- 
tion in  bearers  of  the  divine  image.  It  was  the 
vivid  impression  of  the  reality  and  transforming 
power  of  these  truths  in  the  hands  of  Wilbur  Fisk 
which  made  his  personal  intercourse  with  the  stu- 
dents so  beneficial.  They  loved  him  so  greatly 
that  all  difficult  things  seemed  easy  under  his  lead- 
ership. 

Out  of  this  strong  personal  hold  upon  the  stu- 
dents grew  the  strength  and  security  of  his  govern- 
ment of  the  college.  It  rather  often  happened  that 
he  did  not  favor  some  of  the  schemes  and  measures 
of  the  students.  On  such  occasions  his  view  of 
things  was  pretty  sure  to  prevail,  but  never  merely 
because  it  was  his  view.  Dr.  Fisk  wovdd  examine 
the  arguments  presented  against  his  own  view 
candidly,  appreciate  them  at  their  fvdl  value,  and 
then  array  against  them  the  reasons  which  ought 
to  be  decisive  so  impressively  that  he  usually  con- 
vinced his  opponents  that  they  were  wrong.  He 
favored  the  organization  of  a  temperance  society 
among  the  undergraduates,  and  so  that  society  had 
a  flourishing  career.  But  once,  when  there  was  a 
very  active  movement  in  college  in  favor  of  the 
establishment  of  another  society,  which  he  thought 
improper,  he  prevented  its  success.  It  was  proba- 
bly an  abolition  society.  Committee  after  commit- 
tee waited  upon  the  president  to  secure  permission 
for  putting  such  a  society  into  operation.     They 


THE  ED  UCA  TOR.  —  WESLE  YAN   UNI  VERS  I TY.    159 

stated  their  case  in  detail  to  the  president,  but  so 
candid  and  cogent  and  public-spirited  was  his  op- 
position to  the  proposal  that  he  convinced  the  com- 
mittee of  the  propriety  of  his  views.  The  com- 
mittee reported  the  result  of  their  interview  with 
the  president  to  the  college,  whereupon  a  new  com- 
mittee was  raised  to  wait  upon  the  president.  They 
also  were  converted  to  the  propriety  of  this  view, 
and  so  reported.  As  there  was  some  excitement 
amongst  the  students  on  the  matter,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  send  another  committee  with  instruc- 
tions to  insist  on  the  college  view ;  but  the  persons 
appointed  members  of  the  committee  declined  ser- 
vice, on  the  ground  that  President  Fisk  was  just 
as  likely  to  convince  them  of  the  correctness  of  his 
position  as  the  gentlemen  who  had  already  waited 
on  him. 

Like  all  other  college  presidents.  Dr.  Fisk  some- 
times had  to  deal  with  men  who  put  his  patience 
and  forbearance  to  their  sharpest  test.  We  have 
no  accounts  from  such  persons  of  President  Fisk's 
conduct  towards  them,  nor  copies  of  any  letters  ad- 
dressed by  him  to  themselves  or  their  friends,  for 
they  naturally  kept  all  such  documents  under  the 
seal  of  silence  and  secrecy.  A  few  letters  written 
by  such  offenders  to  Dr.  Fisk  give  us  our  only 
glimpse  of  his  administration  in  such  cases. 

One  of  the  peculiar  features  of  these  letters  is 
the  uniformity  and  the  bitterness  with  which  the 
writers  confess  that  they  have  forfeited  all  claims 
to  President  Fisk's  respect  and  affection,  and  the 


IGO  WILBUR  FISK. 

palpable  sincerity  with  whicli  they  protest  that 
this  is  the  severest  punishment  they  have  to  bear. 
There  is  almost  always  a  humble  hope  expressed 
that  they  may  yet  be  able  to  regain  the  esteem  of 
their  honored  friend.  It  is  easy  to  see,  in  the  po- 
sition of  these  transgressors,  both  the  restraining 
influence  exerted  by  such  character  upon  young 
men  in  circumstances  of  special  temptation,  and 
the  fact  that  their  eager  longing  for  his  full  respect 
was  one  of  the  strongest  motives  to  renew  their 
struoofles  for  res-ainins^  their  standino^.  It  took  a 
pretty  bad  man  to  break  away  from  him.  Few 
gave  him  the  slightest  solicitude.  He  never  spoke 
of  the  student's  misdoings  to  his  family  or  other 
friends,  so  that  his  self-respect  might  lead  him  to 
break  off  faults  before  they  became  notorious. 

Among  the  questions  which  Dr.  Fisk  had  to 
give  early  attention  to  was  that  of  establishing 
schools  of  law,  medicine,  and  theology,  as  the  Uni- 
versity was  by  its  charter  fully  authorized  to  do. 
The  best  judges  whom  he  confidentially  consulted 
on  these  subjects  advised  him  that  the  proper 
place  for  a  medical  school  was  a  large  city,  while 
a  law  school  was  hardly  advisable  in  an  institu- 
tion where  so  much  needed  to  be  done  in  the  de- 
velopment of  a  college  fit  to  take  its  place  beside 
the  most  advanced  colleges  of  the  country.  This 
advice  has  been  substantially  followed  at  Middle- 
town  to  the  present  day.  There  has  been  until 
recently  no  necessity  felt  for  the  creation  of  a 
law  school  or  a  medical  school  under  Methodist 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEY  AN   UNIVERSITY.    161 

auspices.  With  regard  to  theological  schools  the 
case  stood  differently  ;  for  why  should  Methodist 
colleges  oidy  conduct  the  education  of  their  young 
ministers  up  to  the  point  where  their  education 
should  be  directed  wholly  to  those  branches  of 
study  and  science  which  are  to  be  the  themes 
of  all  their  special  study  and  exposition?  These 
questions  were  put  to  Dr.  Fisk  by  his  associates  in 
the  work  of  education,  and  by  the  early  graduates 
of  Wesleyan  University.  He  did  not  deem  it  wise 
for  Methodist  students  to  put  themselves  into  the 
ranks  of  the  students  of  non-Methodist  theological 
seminaries.  He  proposed  that  the  same  course 
should  be  pursued  at  Wesleyan  University  that 
had  been  pursued  at  Harvard  College  and  Yale 
College  long  before  any  theological  course  was 
thought  of  at  either.  Some  of  the  studies  of  spe- 
cial importance  to  ministers  were  grouped  together 
in  the  last  year  of  the  college  course,  so  that  the 
senior  year  was  often  called  "  divinity  year."  Then 
graduates  might  remain  at  college  a  year  after 
graduation.     Here  are  Dr.  Fisk's  reasons  :  — 

"  1.  It  will  be  a  great  saving  of  expense.  In  our  lit- 
erary institutions  we  have  the  buildings,  the  libraries, 
the  teachers,  already  2)repared.  To  get  up  and  support 
separate  establishments  would  almost  double  the  expense. 
The  attempt,  therefore,  in  the  present  condition  of  these 
seminaries,  would  be  likely  to  ruin  both. 

"  2.  By  having  an  experienced  and  well  -  educated 
minister  in  these  seminaries,  this  work  can  be  accom- 
plished to  all  needful  extent. 


162  WILBUR   FISK. 

"3.  It  will  be  a  saving  of  time  to  the  young  men,  who 
can  thus  mingle  the  study  of  theology  with  their  other 
pursuits.  It  will  become  a  part  of  their  miscellaneous 
reading,  and,  in  hours  of  relaxation,  of  their  conversar 
tion ;  mind  acting  upon  mind  will  elicit  truth  almost  in- 
cidentally, and  there  will  always  be  one  to  whom  they 
can  appeal  to  settle  all  doubtful  questions. 

"  4.  In  this  way  we  shall  not  be  so  much  in  danger  of 
carrying  speculation  too  far,  so  as  to  make  the  instruc- 
tion end  in  dogmatism,  or  lead  to  the  spinning  out  of 
new  theories,  as  is  the  case  sometimes  in  theological  sem- 
inaries. 

"  5.  In  this  way  we  should  throw  a  greater  amount 
of  salt  into  our  literary  fountains,  and  thus  get  new  and 
promising  candidates  for  the  ministry  converted.  What 
I  have  here  proposed  is  not  mere  theory.  I  have  acted 
upon  this  principle  ever  since  I  entered  upon  the  business 
of  education,  and  I  have  now  a  class  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  promising  young  men  under  this  kind  of  training. 
...  I  ought,  however,  to  say  that  the  theological  in- 
struction which  we  impart  is  not  made  a  part  of  the  col- 
lege course  ;  it  is  extra  and  voluntary  on  their  part  and 
gratuitous  on  ours." 

It  is  evident  tliat  the  crowning"  objection  to  the 
establishment  of  theological  schools  in  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  in  Dr.  Fisk's  mind,  was  the 
financial  one.  A  man  of  so  much  experience  in 
teaching  or  study  as  Dr.  Fisk  could  have  looked 
upon  such  provisions  for  the  instruction  of  young 
ministers  as  merely  a  temporary  makeshift,  only  to 
be  tolerated  until  the  conference  seminaries  and 
university  had  become  fully  equipped  \\\i\\  all  the 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEY  AN   UNIVERSITY.     163 

necessary  facilities  and  funds  for  doing  their  work 
in  the  best  possible  manner.  It  was  the  keen 
sense  of  the  fact  that  none  of  these  institutions  had 
yet  come  anywhere  near  such  complete  readiness 
to  do  its  work  in  the  most  efficient  manner,  and 
that  the  vigorous  pushing  of  any  scheme  for  sepa- 
rate theological  seminaries  would  prolong  too  far 
the  deficiency  of  abundant  resources  in  such  insti- 
tutions, which  gave  emphasis  to  Dr.  Fisk's  recom- 
mendations. At  such  a  time  nobody  would  have 
rejoiced  more  warmly  than  Dr.  Fisk  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  theological  seminaries  endowed  with 
the  amplest  resources  to  render  them  successful. 
AMien  the  writer  was  a  student  in  the  first  Meth- 
odist theological  school  in  New  England,  three  of 
the  four  professors,  Bishop  Baker,  Dr.  John  W. 
Merrill,  and  Dr.  David  Patten,  had  been  trained 
in  Dr.  Fisk's  theoloo-ical  class  both  at  Wilbraham 
Academy  and  at  Wesleyan  University.  They  then 
thought  themselves  following  out  lines  of  work  in 
which  Wilbur  Fisk  woidd  have  been  proud  to  have 
borne  a  vigorous  share. 

In  1833  Mr.  Fisk  introduced  a  resolution  at  the 
New  Eno-land  Conference  in  favor  of  the  establish- 
ment  of  education  societies.  While  this  subject 
was  under  consideration,  it  became  evident  that 
the  question  could  not  be  weighed  with  proper  care 
and  settled  to  universal  acceptance  unless  it  was 
examined  in  connection  with  the  foreign  mission- 
ary work  of  the  church,  for  the  missionary  is  nec- 
essarily an  educator.     Hence,  at  the  session  of  the 


164  WILBUR  FISK. 

New  England  Conference  in  1834,  the  Missions 
Committee,  of  which  Rev.  John  Lindsay  was 
chairman,  and  the  Education  Committee,  of  which 
Wilbvir  Fisk  was  chairman,  united  in  preparing 
their  work,  and  the  following  rej^tort  drawn  by  Dr. 
Fisk  was  presented  as  the  report  of  both  commit- 
tees, and  adopted  by  the  conference  :  — 

*'  It  is  evident  from  the  signs  of  the  times  that  the 
only  embarrassment  to  the  missionary  cause,  which 
threatens  seriously  to  impede  its  progress  amongst  us, 
consists  in  the  want  of  suitable  men  to  carry  it  on.  The 
mission  work  Is  peculiar  in  requiring  an  education  for 
the  particular  work  to  which  the  misslonaiy  is  called. 
We  have  already  commenced  tbe  foreign  missionary 
work,  and  calls  are  made  upon  us  for  the  enlargement  of 
these  operations,  in  places  where  an  acquaintance  with 
other  languages,  and  with  some  of  the  sciences,  and  with 
other  professions,  especially  medicine.  Is  indispensable. 
To  suit  these  peculiarities,  It  Is  necessary  that  an  educa- 
tion should  be  given  of  an  appropriate  character. 

"  Then  another  peculiarity  of  the  missionary  work 
is  its  identity  with  the  cause  of  education.  Education 
and  the  Christian  rehgion  always  have  been  and  always 
should  be  closely  connected.  A  minister  of  the  gospel 
that  is  not  interested  in  the  cause  of  education  is  an 
anomaly,  and  has  forgotten  an  important  part  of  his  call- 
ing. But  this  applies  with  peculiar  emphasis  to  the  mis- 
sionary work.  Here  not  only  must  the  missionary  aid 
the  cause  collaterally  and  indirectly,  but  he  must  make 
it  a  part  of  his  business,  or,  at  least,  he  must  superin- 
tend this  work  as  performed  by  others,  associated  with 
him  for  that  express  purpose.     Hence  the  missionary 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.     165 

must  himself  be  prepared  for  the  work  of  instruction, 
and  in  many  cases  must  have  associated  with  him  mis- 
sionary teachers,  all  of  whom  need  to  be  educated  for 
the  pur^jose.  Where  shall  we  find  the  men  qualified  for 
this  work  ?  We  find  young  people  of  both  sexes  ar- 
dent in  piety,  glowing  in  love  to  God  and  men,  burning 
with  a  commendable  zeal  for  missionary  enterprise,  but 
altogether  unprepared  to  prosecute  this  work  successfully. 
...  It  is  also  known  that  a  great  portion  of  these  per- 
sons are  poor,  and  unable  to  secure  an  education  without 
aid.  The  committee  have  therefore  agreed  to  report  a 
plan,  the  general  features  of  which,  they  are  confident, 
will  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  church  in  this  matter,  if 
the  members  of  the  conference  will  enter  into  it  with 
unanimity  and  zeal  ;  and  until  some  ])lan  of  this  kind 
be  adopted,  the  intellectual  resources  of  the  church  will 
never  be  fully  developed,  and  rendered,  to  the  full  ex- 
tent, eflBcient  and  useful  in  the  great  cause  of  evangeliz- 
ing the  world.  The  youth  of  our  church  are  diverted 
from  the  purposes  of  the  church,  either  Into  business 
purely  secular,  or  into  the  service  and  under  the  control 
of  others,  who  offer  them  advantages  for  intellectual  im- 
provement and  subsequent  employment  which  they  have 
sought  for  in  vain  among  us.  .  .  . 

"  Wesleyan  University  has  strong  claims  upon  the 
conference  for  patronage  and  support.  But  paying 
students  are  as  profitable  for  the  time  being  as  money. 
If,  therefore,  the  conference  would  provide  funds  for  the 
purpose  of  education  at  the  University,  they  will  so  far 
strengthen  and  aid  the  institution ;  and  if  they  do  this 
in  connection  with  the  missionary  work,  they  will  so  far 
aid  the  cause  of  the  church  directly,  and  hence  the  cause 
of  education  and  of  religion  will  by  the  same  operation 
be  promoted." 


166  WILBUR  FIISK. 

To  this  argument  was  appended  a  resolution 
that  a  society  should  be  formed  whose  purpose  was 
to  be,  "  to  look  up  and  bi-ing  forward  such  young 
persons  as  may  be  judged  suitable  for  home  or 
foreign  missions,  either  as  teachers  or  as  preach- 
ers, and  to  furnish  them  with  the  means  of  an  edu- 
cation suited  to  the  pecidiar  duties  to  which  they 
may  be  respectively  called." 

This  report  was  at  once  adopted  by  the  confer- 
ence, and  an  agent  was  appointed  to  give  an  imme- 
diate and  constant  impulse  to  the  work  of  the  new 
society.  So  the  new  plan  went  into  instant  opera- 
tion, and  with  such  effect  that  at  the  ensuing  ses- 
sion of  the  conference  there  were  eight  benefici- 
aries of  the  organization,  —  three  at  Middletown, 
and  the  others  at  Wilbraham  Academy,  —  who 
were  helped  to  the  amount  of  from  f85  to  $100 
each  yearly. 

This  was  the  first  of  the  education  societies  es- 
tablished by  an  annual  conference  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  —  an  example  which  was 
widely  imitated  by  the  other  conferences,  until  in 
1872  the  entire  church  was  directed  to  organize 
such  societies  by  the  action  of  the  General  Con- 
ference. Of  this  whole  system  Wilbur  Fisk  was 
the  unquestioned  originator,  as  he  was  its  most 
effective  advocate  before  the  church.  In  1888 
these  societies  raised  |>47,000. 

But  while  the  students  in  attendance  at  Wes- 
leyan  University  gathered  rapidly  around  its  rap- 
idly growing  faculty  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.     167 

and  fifty-two,  vigorous  exertions  were  made  to  pro- 
vide books  and  other  facilities  for  successful  and 
effective  study,  and  for  broad  and  efficient  instruc- 
tion. As  early  as  1837,  it  was  the  pleasure  and 
honor  of  the  authorities  to  say :  — 

"The  philosophical  and  astronomical  apparatus  has 
been  greatly  enlarged  the  past  year  by  an  expenditure 
of  about  i$4,000,  and  an  increase  of  about  one  hundred 
instruments.  Among  them  are  a  fine  telescope,  with  a 
six-inch  object-glass  ;  a  splendid  plate  electrical  machine, 
with  two  plates  of  thirty-six  inches  in  diameter  ;  a  mag- 
nificent altitude  and  azimuth  instrument,  so  constructed 
as  to  be  used  also  for  meridian  transits ;  an  astronomical 
clock,  and  various  others  of  the  latest  construction  and 
the  best  quality.  The  entire  apparatus  is  believed  to  be 
as  good  and  useful,  for  the  purposes  of  instruction,  as 
any  in  the  country. 

"  The  advantages  of  the  Department  of  Chemistry 
have  been  increased  by  a  new  laboratory  and  lecture- 
room." 

Through  gifts  and  purchases,  the  books  in  the 
libraries  amounted  to  10,000  well-selected  volumes. 

We  have  reserved  to  the  last  the  discussion  of 
the  financial  administration  of  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity under  Dr.  Fisk's  presidency.  The  valuation 
of  the  property  of  the  institution,  when  it  was 
opened  for  the  reception  of  students,  was  $70,000  ; 
when  Dr.  Fisk  died  it  was  about  $100,000;  so 
that  the  funds  of  the  institution  grew  by  just 
$30,000  during  the  eight  years  of  Dr.  Fisk's  pres- 
idency.     The  first  charter  of  Wesleyan  Univer- 


168  WILBUR  FISK. 

sity  authorized  it  "  to  possess  estate  not  exceeding 
$200,000,  excluding  college  buildings,  library,  and 
apparatus."  In  his  private  letters,  and  in  his  ad- 
dresses on  the  subject.  Dr.  Fisk  always  speaks  of 
this  sum  as  the  one  which  ought  to  be  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  board  of  trustees,  to  enable  them  to 
respond  fully  to  the  claims  made  upon  them  in 
their  work.  Now,  as  it  would  have  taken  just  a 
quarter  of  a  century  for  the  college  to  have  gained 
that  amount  of  endowment,  it  does  not  look  as 
though  the  new  institution  was  effectively  solving 
the  financial  problem  under  the  Fisk  administra- 
tion. But  the  truth  is  that  almost  all  the  addi- 
tions to  the  college  funds  made  between  the  begin- 
ning  and  the  close  of  Fisk's  career  at  Middle  town 
were  raised  before  he  sailed  for  Europe  in  Sep- 
tember, 1835,  so  that  up  to  that  date  about  18,000 
a  year  were  added  to  the  college  property.  Of 
course,  this  rate  would  have  completed  the  full 
endowment  of  the  college  in  about  twenty -five 
years.  It  is  probable  that  the  latter  estimate  is 
the  one  to  be  used  in  any  just  estimate  of  the  Fisk 
presidency.  Of  the  justice  of  this  we  shall  be 
convinced  when  we  remember  that,  within  six 
months  of  Dr.  Fisk's  return  to  America,  the  finan- 
cial crisis  of  1837  was  in  full  blast.  Says  Mr. 
Schurz :  — 

"  The  first  installment  of  the  treasiuy  surplus,  amount- 
ing to  $9,367,000,  due  on  January  1,  1837,  was  taken 
from  the  deposit  banks  amid  great  agony,  and  trans- 
ferred to  the    several   states ;    also   the    second,   about 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEY  AN   UNIVERSITY.     169 

April  1.  But  before  the  third  fell  due  the  general 
collapse  came.  First,  the  influx  of  capital  from  England 
ceased.  The  speculation,  which  had  prevailed  there 
during  the  same  period,  was  brought  to  an  end  by  finan- 
cial embarrassment  in  the  autumn  of  1836.  Discounts 
went  1141  and  prices  down.  Some  banks  were  compelled 
to  wind  up,  and  three  large  business  houses,  which  had 
been  heavily  engaged  with  America,  failed.  English 
creditors  called  in  their  dues.  The  manufacturing'  in- 
dustries,  which,  carried  along  by  the  general  whirl,  had 
produced  beyond  demand,  had  to  reduce  their  opera- 
tions, and  the  price  of  cotton  fell  more  rapidly  than  it 
had  risen.  In  August,  1836,  it  had  been  from  15  to  20 
cents  a  pound ;  in  May,  1837,  it  was  from  8  to  12. 
The  cotton  houses  in  the  South  went  down.  Nine 
tenths  of  the  merchants  of  Mobile  suspended.  New 
Orleans  was  in  a  state  of  financial  anarchy.  Tobacco 
shared  the  fate  of  cotton.  The  whole  South  was  bank- 
rupt. .  .  .  Fortunes  in  city  lots  disappeared  overnight. 
The  accumulated  masses  of  imported  merchandise 
shrank  more  than  one  third  in  their  value.  Stocks  of  all 
kinds  dropped  with  a  tliump.  Manufacturing  establish- 
ments stopped.  Tens  of  thousands  of  workingmen  were 
thrown  on  the  street.  Bankruptcies  were  announced 
by  scores,  —  by  hundreds.  Everybody  was  deeply  in 
debt ;  and  there  was  a  terrible  scarcity  of  available 
assets.  The  banks,  being  crippled  by  the  difficulty  in 
collecting  their  dues,  and  by  the  depreciation  of  the  se- 
curities they  held,  could  afford  very  little  if  any  help. 
In  May,  1837,  while  the  preparatory  steps  for  the  distri- 
bution of  the  third  surplus  installment  were  in  progi-ess, 
the  Dry  Dock  Bank  of  New  York,  one  of  the  deposit 
banks,   failed.       Runs   on    other    institutions    followed ; 


170  WILBUR  FISK. 

and  on  May  10th  the  New  York  banks  in  a  body  sus- 
pended specie  payment,  —  the  effect  of  the  surplus  dis- 
tribution act,  and  the  heavy  drafts  for  specie,  being  given 
as  the  principal  causes.  All  the  banks  throughout  the 
country  then  adopted  the  same  course."  ^ 

It  was  no  discredit  to  Dr.  Fisk,  or  anjt  other 
college  president,  if  he  was  not  able  to  make  large 
additions  to  the  funds  of  an  educational  institution 
during  such  a  national  crisis  of  panic  and  bank- 
ruptcy. The  storm  was  still  raging  in  its  full 
intensity  when  Wilbur  Fisk  went  to  his  grave  in 
1839.  So  small  had  been  the  accumulation  of  en- 
dowment funds  at  that  period  that  Wilbur  Fisk 
may  be  said  to  have  carried  out  of  the  world  the 
clear  conviction  that,  if  the  church  had  a  full  per- 
ception of  the  urgent  needs  of  the  work  of  the 
college  in  the  church  and  the  world,  not  less  than 
$200,000  would  have  found  its  way  into  the  treas- 
ury of  the  University,  and  that  very  few  of  the 
members  of  the  church  were  alive  to  this  duty. 
It  was  one  of  the  earthly  anxieties  that  clung  to 
the  mind  of  the  saintly  Fisk  most  tenaciously  in 
the  parting  scenes  of  earth,  this  noble  and  unself- 
ish thoughtfulness  about  the  necessities  of  the 
institutions  of  learning  he  had  so  dearly  loved. 
The  sharp  strain  of  financial  calamity  was  so  in- 
tense as  to  render  the  last  hours  of  Dr.  Fisk 
gloomy  and  foreboding,  but  for  a  faith  which  no 
darkness  could  daunt.  No  unseen,  angelic  hands 
lifted  the  veil  of  uncertainty  from  the  coming  good 
^  Henry  Clay,  vol.  ii.  p.  126. 


THE  EDUCATOR.  — WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.     171 

or  evil  fortunes  of  these  institutions  to  comfort  the 
dying  eye  of  the  noble  president.  He  could  only 
commit  their  fortunes  as  well  as  his  own  salvation 
into  the  loving  hands  of  a  faithful  God.  As  he 
said  himself  in  his  last  days :  — 

"  Education  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  religion,  or 
the  world  will  never  be  converted  without  a  direct  mira- 
cle from  God.  Our  people  will  take  good  care  of  our 
other  institutions,  but  I  fear  they  are  not  sufficiently 
awake  to  the  cause  of  education.  Oh,  if  I  could  feel 
that  our  people  —  our  brethren  in  tlie  ministry  —  were 
alive  to  the  interests  of  the  University,  how  it  would 
cheer  my  departure  !  But  I  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  a 
good  God,  who  has  blessed  it  beyond  our  most  sanguine 
expectations,  and  I  trust  will  continue  to  bless  it  for  the 
good  of  the  chm-ch  and  for  his  own  glory."  ^ 

It  was  not  until  the  year  1868  that  the  Univer- 
sity funds  were  raised  quite  beyond  the  amount 
which  the  original  charter  authorized  the  trustees 
to  hold,  by  the  sudden  subscription  of  1200,000  by 
Isaac  Rich,  of  Boston,  and  Daniel  Drew,  of  New 
York.  It  is  necessary  to  go  back  a  little  in  the 
history  of  Isaac  Rich,  in  order  to  trace  the  influ- 
ence of  Wilbur  Fisk  in  the  great  benefactions 
which  at  once  lifted  Wesleyan  University  to  a 
broader  and  a  richer  existence.  Isaac  Rich  was 
the  young  fish-peddler  on  Charlestown  Bridge  with 
whom  the  gifted  preacher  had  made  friends,  had 
attracted  to  his  own  church,  and  had  led  into  those 
paths  of  piety  which  were  his  own  delight.  In  the 
1  Holdich's  Life,  p.  448. 


172  WILBUR  FISK. 

phrase  of  the  Old  Testament  Wilbur  Fisk  spoke 
to  the  heart  of  Isaac  Rich.  Soou  this  young  man 
felt  an  intense  desire  to  become  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  that  he  might  turn  sinners  to  holiness  of 
life.  Yet  no  prayer  and  no  readiness  to  give  up 
all  other  interests  or  pursuits  for  this  purpose,  ever 
brought  him  any  conviction  of  a  real  vocation  to 
the  ministry.  He  felt  dimly  that  his  real  calling 
was  to  business  and  commerce.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  Rich  was  among  those  who  attended 
the  prayer-meetings  held  in  the  Methodist  churches 
of  Boston  and  Chai4estown,  to  pray  for  young 
Fisk's  restoration,  to  which  Mr.  Fisk  liimseK  at- 
tributed his  recovery.  Rich  saw  in  ^Vilbur  Fisk 
the  kind  of  minister  he  would  gladly  have  been 
had  God  so  ordered  it.  Hence,  when  an  untimely 
death  cut  short  the  career  of  Dr.  Fisk,  by  nobody 
was  his  memory  more  warmly  cherished  than  by 
Isaac  Rich.  He  studied  his  life  as  described  by 
Dr.  Holdich ;  he  read  all  that  appeared  in  the  j3ub- 
lic  press  concerning  his  favorite ;  he  had  many  an 
anecdote  to  tell  of  Dr.  Fisk  to  any  comer ;  the  por- 
trait of  Dr.  Fisk,  now  in  the  library  of  Wesleyan 
University,  was  copied  for  Mr.  Rich,  and  was  the 
picture  which  greeted  all  eyes  as  they  entered  Mr. 
Rich's  dwelling,  and  anything  new  about  the  great 
preacher  was  always  welcome  to  his  admirer  down 
to  the  last  day  of  his  life.  When  child  after  child 
was  taken  away,  and  money  accumulated  in  his 
hands  beyond  the  boldest  dreams  of  his  boyhood, 
Mr.  Rich  felt  a  longing  to  connect  his  own  name 


THE   EDUCATOR.— WESLEY  AN  UNIVERSITY.     173 

with  the  work  of  Dr.  Fisk,  by  gifts  that  should  put 
the  Academy  and  the  University  into  a  position  to 
do  under  the  best  conditions  the  work  which  they 
had  been  doing  under  such  embarrassing  circum- 
stances. If  solicited  to  give  to  other  objects,  he 
would  sometimes  excuse  himself  a  little  curtly,  be- 
cause he  wished  to  make  as  large  gifts  as  possible 
for  educational  purposes.  Once  such  a  refusal  so 
pained  and  shocked  a  saintly  old  lady,  who  had 
made  application  to  him  for  help,  that  she  could  not 
believe  she  was  talking  with  the  real  Isaac  Rich, 

"  I  was  looking  for  Isaac  Rich's  office,  sir." 

"  I  am  Isaac  Rich." 

"  But  there  must  be  some  mistake  about  it :  you 
can't  be  the  Mr.  Rich  I  am  looking  for  ;  he  is  a 
gentleman." 

Her  visible  distress  and  her  unintended  sarcasm 
so  cut  Mr.  Rich  to  the  heart  that  the  visitor  got 
her  money.  This,  then,  was  the  man  who  in  1868 
not  only  gave  $100,000  himself  to  the  college,  but 
induced  Daniel  Drew  to  give  a  like  sum.  To 
Wesleyan  University  Mr.  Rich  gave  in  aU  about 
$150,000  ;  to  Wesleyan  Academy  about  $50,000  ; 
and  to  Boston  University  what  remained  from  an 
estate  which  was  appi-aised  at  $1,600,000  at  Mr. 
Rich's  death,  but  had  been  shrunken  by  losses  in 
the  great  fire,  and  by  the  rapid  depreciation  of  real 
estate. 

What  a  wonderful  comfort  would  have  attended 
the  last  days  of  Wilbur  Fisk  could  he  have  fore- 
seen that  the  total  property  held  in  trust  for  edu- 


174  WILBUR  FJSK. 

cational  purposes  In  New  England  by  Methodists 
would  in  the  year  1887  amount  to  $3,520,000,  and 
that  the  sum  raised  by  the  education  societies,  of 
which  he  was  the  first  founder,  should  that  same 
year  amount  to  $47,000 !  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  he  would  regard  the  establishment  of  two 
universities  with  favor,  but  we  cannot  doubt  that 
he  would  be  charmed  with  the  great  work  they 
have  already  accomplished,  and  yet  more  with  the 
greater  and  better  work  they  promise. 

We  have  seen  how  careful  Wilbur  Fisk  always 
was,  both  at  Wilbraham  and  at  Middletown,  in  all 
his  personal  intercourse  with  his  students,  to  set  an 
example  of  high  devotion  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  to  turn  as  many  of  them  as  he  could  into 
active  Christians.  How  much  he  achieved  in  these 
ways  can  only  be  fully  known  "  when  men  are 
judged  out  of  the  things  written  in  the  book."  An 
early  graduate  of  the  college  has  told  me  this  inci- 
dent as  an  illustration  of  his  fidelity  and  success  in 
such  wayside  labors.  He  was  in  attendance  on  a 
prayer-meeting  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
at  Middletown,  where  Dr.  Fisk  spoke  briefly  and 
affectingly  of  his  personal  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
as  a  Saviour,  when  he  closed  with  a  sudden  appeal 
to  the  manliness  of  the  young  peoj)le  present  to  re- 
nounce the  sins  they  confessed  and  deplored,  and 
lead  new  lives.  One  student  arose  and  said,  "  By 
the  grace  of  God  I  will ;  "  and  he  did. 

But  it  was  a  sore  grief  to  Dr.  Fisk  that  he  had 
been  able  to  affect  so  little  the  spiritual  condition 


THE  EDUCATOR.-  WESLEY  AN   UNIVERSITY.     175 

of  the  college.     There  was  an  intense  longing  in 
his  devout  soul  that  a  revival  of  pure  and  undeliled 
relio-ion  mioht  break  out,  and  transform  the  reli- 
gious  condition  of  the  college.     There  were  plausi- 
ble ways  enough  in  which  the  thing  might  be  ex- 
plained by  a  cold  and  unbelieving  heart.     For  one 
thino-.  Dr.  Fisk  himself  was  in  an  over-worked  and 
jaded  condition,  so  that  any  extra  work  he  might 
undertake  would  make   severe  demands  upon  his 
time  and  strength.     Yet  when  the  pastor  of  the 
church.  Rev.  B.  Creagh,  in  the  spring  of  1834,  an- 
nounced that  a  protracted  meeting  was  to   be  held 
there,   the  announcement  at  once    awakened   the 
deepest  interest  in  Dr.  Fisk.     The  evening  when 
the  meeting  was  to  begin  he  gathered  his  family 
about  him  for  their  customary  devotions :  his  mind 
was  full  of  the  subject ;   he  read  an  appropriate 
passage  of  the  Scriptures,  and  spoke  of  his  own 
spiritual  condition,  and  the  need  of  devotion  to  the 
new  efforts  to  be  put  forth  in  the  local  church.    He 
said  :  "  I  have  never  labored  so  long  anywhere  as 
here  without  special  evidence  that  God  owned  my 
labors  by  the  outpouring  of  his  Holy  Spirit.     Can 
it  be  that  by  this  God  means  to  indicate  that  I  am 
not  in  the  path  of  duty  ?     I  do  not  feel  that  my 
own  soul  has  lost  any  of  its  fervor  ;  but  the  Uni- 
versity, —  the  souls  in  the  University  !  " 

Then  he  poured  forth  such  a  prayer  as  only 
such  a  soul  can  pour  forth  when  deeply  moved 
and  melted  under  the  gracious  breath  of  the  Holy 
Comforter.    Fearing  lest  the  All-seeing  Eye  might 


176  WILBUR  FISK. 

find  some  taint  of  unhallowed  motive  in  his  pro- 
found earnestness  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  he  was 
heard  to  say  :  "  I  ask  not  to  be  made  the  honored 
instrument ;  only  give  me  a  token  that  thou  dost 
own  the  University."  He  gave  himself  up  freely 
to  the  needful  labors  of  a  great  spiritual  harvest 
season.  Then,  God  who  knew  the  purity  of  his 
servant's  heart  and  the  integrity  of  his  motives, 
gave  him  his  heart's  desire.  The  following  is  Dr. 
risk's  account  of  the  revival,  in  the  "  Christian 
Advocate  and  Journal :  "  — 

' '  Wesleyan  University,  March  12,  1834. 

"  Dear  Brethren,  —  I  have  the  inexpressible  hap- 
piness of  communicating  to  you  the  cheermg  intelligence 
of  a  blessed  work  of  grace  in  Wesleyan  University. 
This  is  the  first  general  revival  we  have  had  since  the 
institution  was  ojjened.  Although  we  have  had  a  great 
projjortion  of  pious  students  from  the  beginning,  still 
those  who  entered  in  an  unconverted  state  have  gener- 
ally continued  so,  and  in  some  instances  the  piety  of  the 
professing  students  had  evidently  declined.  This  was  to 
us  a  matter  of  great  grief  and  of  special  solicitude.  The 
University  was  established  for  the  good  of  the  world  by 
the  church,  and  especially  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Redeemer's  cause  ;  and  to  experience  no  spiritual  re- 
freshing for  more  than  two  years,  seemed  peculiarly  in- 
auspicious. The  young  men  were  moral,  regular  in 
their  habits,  remarkably  correct  in  their  general  deport- 
ment, active  in  the-  cause  of  temperance,  of  missions, 
and  of  other  benevolent  enterprises  ;  but  all  this,  com- 
mendable as  it  was,  did  not  come  up  to  the  imjiortant 
standard,  personal  holiness  of  heart  and  life.     But  God 


THE  EDUCATOR. —WESLEY AN   UNIVERSITY.    VJI 

had  not  forgotten  us.  He  has  at  length  visited  us  in 
great  mercy.  A  few  students  are  absent.  Of  those  that 
are  present,  but  very  few,  perhaps  but  three  or  four,  can 
be  found  who  jDrofess  not  to  have  found  peace  in  behev- 
ing,  or  are  not  earnestly  pressing  after  it.  The  work 
in  most  cases  seems  to  be  thorough  and  deep.  So  great 
has  been  the  interest  for  the  past  two  weeks,  we  have 
been  obliged  partially,  and  some  days  almost  wholly,  to 
suspend  our  regular  college  duties,  and  our  college  edi- 
fices have  resounded  with  the  voice  of  prayer  and 
praise. 

"  Although  all  that  are  acquainted  with  our  literary  in- 
stitutions know  that  here,  as  elsewhere,  there  are  snares 
and  temptations  for  inexperienced  youth,  —  so  that  we 
rejoice  with  trembling,  — yet  I  cannot  but  believe  that 
a  goodly  number  of  young  men  have  here,  within  a  few 
days,  been  brought  to  a  state  of  feeling  and  a  course  of 
action  that  will  be  productive  of  lasting  advantage  to 
themselves,  and  through  them  to  others.  What  an  in- 
teresting consideration  is  this  !  and  how  strongly  does  it 
recommend  our  literary  institutions  to  the  care  of  the 
church  !  This  is  a  point  to  which  I  strongly  suspect  the 
attention  of  the  church  has  not  been  sufficiently  di- 
rected. Let  one  fact  speak  on  that  subject.  To  say 
nothing  of  the  advantages  of  our  seminaries  for  those 
who  are  already  pious,  and  of  the  moral  and  religious 
influence  that  has  been  thrown  over  others,  I  have  the 
means  of  knowing  that  about  three  sevenths  of  all  the 
students  of  the  University  have  become  pious,  either  here 
or  at  one  of  our  academies,  before  they  entered  hei'e. 
Thus  religion  and  literature  have  met  together  —  in 
which  there  is  the  greatest  hope  for  the  cause  of  God  — 
in  young  men  who  are  training  and  girding  themselves 


178  WILBUR  FJSK. 

for  the  great  enterprise  of  subduing  the  world  to  Christ. 
And  will  our  friends  look  on  and  see  our  institutions 
languish  for  want  of  the  necessary  funds,  when  God  is 
showering  salvation  upon  them  ?  And  will  our  pious 
members  hesitate  to  send  their  children  here  for  fear  of 
injury  to  their  souls  ?  Brethren,  inquire  what  is  duty 
in  this  matter. 

"  The  work  in  the  University  has  been  in  connection 
with  a  gracious  revival  in  the  town.  W.  FiSK." 

That  this  was  no  transient  mood  with  him  ap- 
pears from  Dr.  Holdich's  words  :  — 

"  In  the  spring  of  1837  the  Methodist  congregation 
in  Middletown,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  C.  K. 
True,  was  favored  with  a  blessed  work  of  grace  in  which 
the  University  largely  participated.  In  this  work  Dr. 
Fisk  was  deeply  interested,  and  seldom  appeared  to 
greater  advantage.  He  labored  diligently  and  efficiently. 
It  was  delightful  to  see  him.  as  the  students  came  for- 
ward  for  prayers,  singing,  praying,  and  conversing  with 
them,  solely  intent  on  leading  them  to  the  '  Lamb  of  God 
who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.' 

"  The  character  of  his  preaching  was  remarkably  ap- 
propriate and  evangelical.  Divested  of  the  stately  forms 
of  art,  it  was  delivered  with  all  that  '  simplicity,  dignity, 
and  directness '  that  indicate  a  pure  solicitude  for  the 
triumph  of  truth.  But  then,  conscious  of  the  high  im- 
port of  his  message,  he  threw  into  his  sermons  all  his 
mental  power  and  resources.  He  selected  for  his  themes 
the  more  familiar  points  of  the  evangelic  plan,  and 
with  evident  painstaking  labored  to  bring  them  home  to 
the  understanding  and  the  heart.  Two  very  common 
faults  of  the  pulpit  he  thus  avoided  :  one  is,  the  selection 


THE  EDUCATOR.— WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY.      179 

o£  topics  so  remotely  connected  with  personal  piety  as 
to  leave  the  conscience  of  the  hearer  untouched,  and  his 
feelings  unstirred  ;  the  other  is,  discussing  more  familiar 
themes  in  a  manner  so  indifferent,  and  with  such  little 
effort  of  mind,  and  variety  of  thought  and  illustration, 
as  to  create  an  impression  that  the  speaker  is  not  inter- 
ested in  his  own  peculiar  business.  If  he  treated  of  the 
doctrine  of  repentance,  or  faith,  or  regeneration,  it  was 
with  a  clearness  of  statement,  an  amplitude  of  scriptural 
illustration,  that  exhibited  at  once  the  experienced  Chris- 
tian and  the  able  theologian."  ^ 

At  some  points  the  educational  work  of  Dr. 
risk  was  noteworthy.  It  was  remarkable  that 
there  should  have  been  no  religious  test  imposed 
on  any  officer  of  the  college.  The  unusual  stress 
put  upon  the  acquisition  of  the  modern  langiiages, 
as  an  important  element  in  the  highest  culture, 
showed  breadth  and  independence  of  judgment. 
As  long  as  he  lived,  modern  languages  held  almost 
as  great  a  place  in  the  course  of  study  as  the  an- 
cient. Yet  Professor  Whedon,  the  teacher  of  the 
ancient  languages  under  Dr.  Fisk,  declares  that  he 
prized  the  ancient  languages  so  highly  that  he 
would  gladly,  had  circumstances  permitted,  have 
been  their  devotee. 

The  slight  esteem  for  the  fine  arts  exhibited  in 
Dr.  risk's  Inaugural  is  its  weakest  point.  But 
how  should  a  man  of  his  circumstances  and  train- 
ing find  the  path  to  broader  views  ?  In  this  re- 
spect, Dr.  risk's  European  tour  disposed  forever 
of  all  such  narrow  ideas. 

1  Holdich'3  Life  of  Wilbur  Fisk,  p.  393. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

THE  TEMPERANCE  REFORMER. 

How  great  room  there  was  for  the  Temperance 
Eeformation  may  be  shown  in  a  hundred  ways,  but 
perhaps  nowhere  better  or  more  vividly  than  in 
Lyman  Beecher's  Autobiograjihy  :  — 

"  Soon  after  my  arrival  at  Litchfield,  I  was  called  to 
attend  the  ordination  at  Plymouth  of  Mr.  Heart.  .  .  . 
Well,  at  the  ordination  at  Plymouth,  the  preparation  for 
our  creature  comforts,  in  the  sitting-room  of  Mr.  Heart's 
house,  besides  food,  was  a  broad  side-board  covered  with 
decanters  and  bottles,  and  sugar,  besides  pitchers  of 
water.  There  we  found  all  the  various  kinds  of  liquor 
then  in  vogue.  The  drinking  was  apparently  univex-sal. 
This  preparation  was  made  by  the  society  as  a  matter 
of  course.  When  the  Consociation  arrived,  they  always 
took  something  to  drink  round ;  also  before  public  ser- 
vices, and  always  on  their  return.  As  they  could  not  aU 
drink  at  once,  they  were  obliged  to  stand  and  wait,  as 
people  do  at  a  mill. 

"  There  was  a  decanter  of  spirits,  also,  on  the  dining- 
table,  to  help  digestion,  and  gentlemen  partook  of  it 
through  the  afternoon  and  evening  as  they  felt  the  need, 
some  more,  some  less  ;  and  the  side-board,  with  the  spill- 
ings  of  water,  and  sugar,  and  liquor,  looked  and  smelled 
like  the  bar  of  a  very  active  grogshop.     None  of  the 


THE  TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.  181 

Consociation  were  drunk  ;  but  that  there  was  not,  at 
times,  a  considerable  amount  of  exhilaration,  I  cannot 
affirm. 

"  When  they  had  all  done  drinking,  and  had  pipes 
and  tobacco,  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes  there  was  such 
a  smoke  j'ou  could  not  see.  And  the  noise  I  cannot  de- 
scribe;  it  was  the  maximum  of  hilarity.  They  told 
their  stories,  and  were  at  the  height  of  jocose  talk.  .  .  . 
I  think  I  remember  some  animadversions  were  made  at 
that  time  on  the  amount  of  liquor  drunk,  for  the  tide 
was  swelling  in  the  drinking  habits  of  society. 

"  The  next  ordination  was  that  of  Mr.  Harvey,  in 
Goshen,  and  there  was  the  same  preparation  and  the 
same  scenes  acted  over,  and  then  afterward  still  louder 
murmurs  from  the  society  at  the  quantity  and  expense 
of  liquor  consumed." 

Tills  was  the  beginning  of  the  temperance  re- 
form in  the  righteous  and  indignant  soul  of  Ly- 
man Beecher,  and  marked  a  new  era  in  the  mor- 
als of  New  England.  These  revolting  spectacles 
stirred  up  his  pure  mind  to  secure,  first,  a  moral 
revolution  in  the  drinking  habits  of  the  clergy  and 
church  members.  It  was  his  manly  and  resolute 
protest  against  the  convivial  habits  of  those  days 
which  gave  the  first  great  impulse  to  the  temper- 
ance reform.  Mr.  Beecher  has  himself  recorded 
the  painful  circumstances  which  led  him  to  prepare 
the  famous  "•  Six  Sermons  on  Intemperance."  His 
first  male  convert  after  he  went  to  Litchfield  had 
gradually  been  ensnared  in  the  vice  of  drunken- 
ness. And  to  make  the  matter  as  bad  as  possible, 
the  young  man's  father  was  entangled  in  the  same 


182  WILBUR  FISK. 

corrupting  habit.  It  was  in  the  agony  of  a  true 
and  loving  pastor's  heart  under  these  disheartening 
discoveries  that  that  stern  and  remorseless  indict- 
ment of  the  rum-drinking  habits  of  New  England 
was  written.  The  so-called  ''  standing  order  "  had 
no  monopoly  of  such  weaknesses,  wickedness,  and 
misery.  The  other  churches  had  the  same  cease- 
less fight  to  wage  against  the  same  unsleeping  foe. 
They,  too,  saw  all  their  Christian  zeal  and  love  ex- 
erted in  vain  to  save  the  brightest  and  noblest  of 
their  converts  from  a  drunkard's  grave.  These 
painful  incidents  were  sure  to  affect  most  deeply 
the  Christian  ministry  as  a  body,  and  especially 
those  ministers  whose  faith  in  the  renovating  and 
transforming  power  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  was 
most  vivid  and  potent.  As  Wilbur  Fisk  had  be- 
come better  acquainted  with  the  moral  condition  of 
the  country  at  large,  he  must  have  realized  keenly 
how  great  an  obstacle  the  habit  of  using  ardent 
spirits  as  a  beverage,  and  as  a  special  promoter  of 
hospitality,  everywhere  opposed  to  keeping  public 
morals  up  to  any  point  once  attained,  not  to  men- 
tion its  paralyzing  effect  on  efforts  to  raise  them 
to  a  purer,  nobler  plane.  When  he  asked  himself 
honestly  about  the  actual  moral  standard  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  the  answer  was  an  apparently 
comfortable  one.  Wesley's  faithful  words  of  warn- 
ing and  rebuke  were  still  proclaimed,  still  gave  in- 
spiration to  the  public  action  of  the  conferences, 
whether  general  or  annual,  which  had  any  occasion 
to  deal  with  the  subject,  and  enforced,  with  all  the 


THE    TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.  183 

weight  of  his  apostolic  authority,  the  faithful  teach- 
ings of  the  itinerant  clergy.     But  when  faithful 
pastors  asked  themselves  how  safe  their  folds  in 
reality  were  from  the  devouring  wolves  of  intem- 
perance, the  truth  was  sometimes  startling  enough. 
For  gradually  had  custom  won  a  sort  of  implied 
toleration  for  all  the  most  abhorred  features  of  the 
trade  in  ardent  spirits,  not  only  in  the  public  mind, 
but  even  in  the  bosom  of  the  churches.     The  mem- 
ber or  minister  of  any  church,  who  fancied  his  own 
body  especially  secure  against  the  invasion  of  such 
vices,  was  sure  to  be   startled  out  of  his  unreal 
safety  by  the  sudden  fall  and  irretrievable  ruin  of 
some  dearly  loved  Christian  friend.     This  experi- 
ence soon  befell  Mr.  Fisk.     One  of  the  members 
of  the  Wilbraham  Methodist  Church,  a  trustee  of 
Wesleyan  Academy,  a  cordial  friend,  owned  a  dis- 
tillery.    He  carried  on  a  large  business  in  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  dis-tillery,  and  used  them  so  freely  him- 
self as  greatly  to  alarm  his  dearest  friends.     But 
as  the  discipline  of  the  church,  relaxing  its  former 
stringency,  only  prohibited  "drunkenness,  or  drink- 
ing spirituous  liquors,  unless  in  cases  of  necessity," 
it  was  not  a  clearly  defined  case  of  violation  of 
church  law.      And  as  every  man  had  to  be  his 
own  judge,  at  first,  how  far  his  own  indulgences 
were  "  cases  of  necessity,"  it  often  happened  that 
church  members  were  in  danger  of  getting  irre- 
trievably   involved    in  intemperate    habits    before 
any  courageous  warning  had  been  sounded.     For 
years  this  had  been  the  most  frequent  cause  of 


184  WILBUR  FISK. 

backslidings,  compelling  excision  from  the  church. 
From  careful  investigations,  Mr.  Fisk  had  learned 
that  this  dreadful  sin  and  peril,  not  confined  to 
New  England  Methodism,  were  especially  notori- 
ous in  the  West  and  South.  He  soon  saw  that 
the  only  possible  safety  for  the  Methodist  Church 
was  to  make  all  her  legislation  and  administration 
conform  to  the  highest  standards  of  the  Bible.  It 
was  fortunate  in  this  case  that  the  first  legislation 
of  the  church  needed  only  to  be  amended  by  pro- 
hibiting also  the  manufacture  of  ardent  spirits,  to 
bring  it  up  to  the  scriptural  standard.  To  bring 
about  this  new  order  of  things.  Dr.  Fisk  began  by 
preaching  and  lecturing  on  temperance  wherever 
he  had  an  opj)ortunity.  To  the  full  extent  of  his 
strength  he  accepted  invitations  to  speak  out  the 
full  and  earnest  convictions  to  which  he  had  come. 
He  aided  in  the  organization  of  local  temperance 
societies,  helped  to  obtain  and  circulate  temper- 
ance information,  and  sent  letters  to  newspapers  to 
heljD  on  the  great  movement. 

To  the  surjjrise  and  sorrow  of  Mr.  Fisk,  he 
sometimes  found  sharp  opposition,  where  he  least 
expected  it,  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  church  itself. 
When  on  his  way  to  lecture  in  a  Connecticut  town, 
he  encountered  a  member  of  the  church  who  tried 
to  persuade  him  to  throw  up  the  engagement  to 
lecture,  because  the  local  church  was  not  in  favor 
of  temperance,  because  some  of  its  members  traded 
in  liquor,  and  because  the  Methodist  society  there 
would  be  divided  if  the  lecturer  persisted.     Said 


THE   TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.  185 

the  inflexible  advocate  of  gospel  temperance,  'SS'ir, 
if  the  church  stands  on  rum.,  let  it  go  !  "  The 
fidelity  and  wisdom  with  which  the  new  reform 
was  carried  forward,  under  such  skillful  and  brave 
leadership,  were  such  that  the  New  England  con- 
ferences were  speedily  enlisted  almost  to  a  man  in 
the  good  cause.  Mr.  Fisk  was  ready  at  all  times 
to  use  his  pen  to  recommend  the  reform  to  all 
Methodists.  His  sagacious  leadership  was  recog- 
nized far  and  near,  so  that  suggestions,  informa- 
tion, and  congratulations  flowed  in  to  him  from  all 
quarters  in  the  church.  There  were  some  who 
challeno-ed  his  views,  and  some  did  not  fear  to  im- 
pugn  his  motives  in  stirring  up  this  temperance 
crusade.  He  showed  his  gift  for  real  leadership 
in  the  skillful  way  wherewith  he  won  over  to  the 
movement  those  who  could  most  effectively  help  it. 
He  knew  that  the  "  Christian  Advocate,"  under 
the  care  of  the  Rev.  Nathan  Bangs,  D.  D.,  could 
reach  the  most  influential  minds  in  the  church  ; 
for  it  had  fifteen  thousand  subscribers.  Hence  he 
endeavored  to  commit  Mr.  Bangs  to  the  new  re- 
form. But  at  first,  to  the  keen  disappointment  and 
grief  of  Dr.  Fisk,  the  paper  pronounced  against  the 
temperance  movement  and  societies  as  not  called 
for,  and  possibly  mischievous.  A  camp  -  meeting 
held  at  Somers,  Conn.,  adopted  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions recommending  the  formation  of  temperance 
societies,  which  was  forwarded  to  the  "  Christian 
Advocate  "  for  publication.  The  resolutions  were 
explained  and  enforced  by  remarks  from  Dr.  Fisk. 


186  WILBUR  FISK. 

The  "  Advocate  "  retained  a  hostile  attitude  f  or 
some  months  longer.  But  meanwhile  it  happily 
turned  out  that  Dr.  Bangs  had  failed  to  convince 
himself  of  the  rightfulness  of  his  own  ideas,  and 
while  men  were  planning  to  obtain  a  hearing  for 
conferences  which  had  been  refused  individual 
members  thereof,  the  veteran  leader  not  only  car- 
ried his  own  conference,  the  New  York,  into  the 
temperance  ranks,  but  made  the  newspaper  which 
he  controlled  a  great  help  to  the  reformers.  This 
conversion  was  very  largely  due  to  Wilbur  Fisk, 
and  his  recognition  of  the  value  of  Dr.  Bangs's 
help  was  very  prompt  and  generous.  Finding  those 
opposed  to  these  new  views  somewhat  reluctant  to 
yield.  Dr.  Fisk  issued  in  1832  an  "  Address  to  the 
Members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on 
the  Subject  of  Temperance." 

This  begins  with  the  declaration  that  "  many  in 
the  visible  church  are  actually  standing  in  the 
way  of  sinners,  and  are  hindrances  to  the  work  of 
God."  He  thinks  it  an  urgent  duty  of  the  church 
to  remove  her  stumbling-blocks  of  all  sorts  from 
the  paths  of  sinners.  While  there  are  many  such 
stumbling-stones  to  be  taken  away,  he  for  this  oc- 
casion confines  himself  to  one,  "the  use  and  sale 
of  ardent  spirits  by  the  members  of  the  Church  of 
Christ."  He  renounces  declamation  on  this  topic, 
but  tells  us  tliat  ardent  spirits  then  cost  the  nation, 
directly  or  indirectly,  ninety-four  millions  of  dol- 
lars yearly.  He  says  it  is  admitted  that  three 
fourths  the  crime  and  three  fourths  the  pauper- 


THE  TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.  187 

ism  of  the  nation  come  from  this  cause.  He  does 
not  describe  the  wretchedness  caused  by  rum  in 
the  homes  of  men,  because  "  you  have  seen  the 
drunkard,  and  you  have  seen  his  family  ^ 

The  really  grave  point  is,  that  "  the  same  train 
of  means  and  causes  that  have  produced  the  in- 
temperate of  the  past  and  present  are  still  in  oper- 
ation to  produce  an   equal   or  greater  proportion 
in  the  next  generation,  and  so  on  forever."     Then 
comes  a  solemn  declaration  that  the  church  was 
aiding  and  abetting  this  dreadful  work  of  death. 
"  Do  not  many  of  her  members  use  ardent  spirits  ? 
Do  they  not  traffic  in  the   accursed  thing?     Do 
they  not  hold  out  on  their  signs  invitations  to  all 
that  pass  by  to  come  and  purchase  of  them  the 
dreadful  poison  ?  "    What  makes  rum-drinking  tol- 
erated at  all  in  general  society  is  the  example  of 
the  good  and  pious  men  who  use  strong  drink  with 
moderation.     To  the  plea  that  temperate  drinking 
only  sanctions  the  temperate,  not  the  intemperate, 
use  of  rum,  he  responds :  "  It  is  the  certain  cause, 
and  will  be  the  certain  cause  as  long  as  moderate 
drinking  and  the   sale  of  strong  drink  are  toler- 
ated."    He  pleads :  "  Do  not  pass  over  this  conclu- 
sion lightly.     Look  at  it,  pray  over  it ;  go  to  your 
closet,  and  with  your  eyes  raised  to  heaven,  and 
your  finger  on    Rom.  xiv.   21    ['  It  is    good  nei- 
ther to  eat  flesh  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  an5i;hing 
whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth  or  is  offended,  or 
is  made  weak'],  justify  yourself  before  God  if  you 
can.     Do  not  say  it   does   you  good,  and  there- 


188  WILBUR  FISK. 

fore  you  must  use  it.  God  knows,  and  you  might 
know,  that  it  does  you  no  good.  I  say  you  might 
know  ;  for  the  experiment  is  easily  made.  Just 
leave  off  the  use  for  one  year,  and  try  it  for  your- 
self. Thousands  have  done  so,  and  have  found  that 
they  were  better  without  than  with  it.  Do  you 
hesitate?  then  you  already  love  it.  Yes,  reluctant 
as  you  may  be  to  own  it  even  to  yourself,  you  love 
rum.  And  you  have  need  to  leave  it  off  for  your 
own  safety  ;  for  there  is  but  a  step  between  you 
and  ruin.  Oh,  my  brother,  put  down  that  cup 
quickly !  It  will  burn  up  thy  life,  and  Idndle  up 
in  thy  soul  the  fire  that  is  never  qvienched."  His 
words  kindle  into  a  flame  of  anger  over  any  petty, 
personal  advantage  of  comfort  or  of  gain  to  the 
ruin  of  human  souls. 

"  The  man  who  makes  a  common  use  of  ardent 
spirits,  if  he  has  received  grace,  becomes  thereby  stu- 
pid and  undevout,  and  if  he  is  unregenerate  he  is  al- 
most impervious  to  the  shafts  of  truth.  '  Rum,'  said  a 
brother  in  the  ministry,  '  is  a  non-conductor  to  religious 
truth ; '  and  he  then  added,  in  an  emphasis  that  caused 
his  words  to  thrill  through  my  whole  frame  like  the 
death  chime  of  souls,  '  Drinking  rum  and  going  to  hell 
are  synonymous  terms^  " 

He  strikes  dead  with  one  indignant  thrust  of 
his  blade  the  pleas  of  those  who  cry  out  "  priest- 
craft," "  union  of  church  and  state,"  sectarianism, 
the  boasters  of  their  own  independence,  the  time- 
server,  and  the  indolent.  All  such  are  found 
among  the  opponents  of  total  abstinence  as  the  only 


THE   TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.  189 

sure  and  effectual  cure  for  all  the  woes  and  inju- 
ries of  intemperance.  The  only  real  obstruction 
the  good  cause  has  so  far  met  has  been  the  refusal 
to  make  total  abstinence  the  rallying  cry  of  aU 
temperance  men.  Were  that  once  done,  success 
would  be  swift  and  complete.  In  this  eventful 
moment  of  the  conflict  with  the  evil,  Dr.  Fisk 
described  it  in  these  solemn  words :  — 

"  The  chief  cause  of  all  this  obstruction  is  to  be  traced 
to  the  church.  We  expected  infidels,  and  rumsellers, 
and  selfish  men  would  scoff  and  oppose ;  but  against 
them  we  expected  to  array  the  enlightened  statesman, 
the  philanthropic  citizen,  and,  above  all,  the  great  body 
of  the  church.  But  it  has  not  been  so.  Christians  of 
various  denominations  are  strengthening  the  hands  of 
the  wicked.  And  is  our  own  church  clear  ?  Let  the 
truth  be  told  to  our  shame :  in  spite  of  our  excellent 
rules  on  the  subject ;  in  spite  of  the  writings  of  Mr. 
Wesley ;  in  spite  of  the  worthy  example  of  the  greater 
portion  of  our  members, — in  almost  every  place  I  visit 
or  hear  from,  and  I  have  made  much  inquiry  on  this 
point,  some  Methodists  are  found  who  drink  and  deal 
in  ardent  spirits !  Now  all  this  they  do  in  the  full 
blaze  of  the  light  that  has  been  poured  upon  this  subject. 
It  is  this,  therefore,  that  has  led  me  to  say  the  woe,  the 
curse  of  the  Almighty,  is  out  against  such.  The  respon- 
sibility of  the  church  on  this  subject  is  great.  If  church 
members  drink  and  sell,  and  the  church  countenances 
them  in  it,  in  vain  may  we  look  for  victory ;  the  refor- 
mation is  effectually  stayed.  AVlien  was  it  ever  known 
that  the  community  at  large  carried  a  question  of  morals 
beyond  the  church  ?  .  .  .  Nay,  I  ain  not  sure  that  this 


190  WILBUR  FISK. 

question  does  not  now  depend  mainly  on  the  Methodist 
Church." 

In  this  critical  hour  in  the  fortunes  of  the  re- 
form and  the  destinies  of  the  church,  Dr.  Fisk 
urges  every  Methodist  to  give  up  the  use  of  strong 
drink.  "Let  the  waving  banner  of  our  church 
have  inscribed  on  it,  in  large  capitals,  Entire  Ab- 
stinence !  and  to  this  principle  let  every  member 
pledge  perpetual  fidelity."  Secondly,  he  would 
have  them  abandon  altogether  the  traffic  in  liquor 
in  all  its  branches  :  — 

"  My  Christian  brother,  if  you  saw  this  trade  as  God 
sees  it,  you  would  sooner  beg  your  bread  from  door  to 
door  than  gain  money  by  such  a  traffic.  The  Christian's 
dram-shop  !  Sound  it  to  yourself.  How  does  it  strike 
your  ear  ?  It  is  doubtless  a  choice  gem  in  the  phrase- 
book  of  Satan.  But  how  paradoxical !  How  shocking 
to  the  ear  of  the  Christian !  How  offensive  to  the  ear 
of  Deity.  Why,  the  dram-shop  is  the  recruiting  ren- 
dezvous of  hell !  And  shall  a  Christian  be  the  recruit- 
ing officer  ?  Above  all  things  should  no  Methodist 
manufacture  ardent  spirits,  since  these  are  the  main- 
springs of  the  terrible  traffic,  '  poisoners-general '  of  the 
public." 

Should  any  refuse,  after  the  most  loving  and 
painstaking  instruction  and  warning,  he  would 
have  them  all  excluded,  with  the  formal  discipli- 
nary processes,  from  membership  in  the  church. 
For  he  does  not  regard  practices  such  as  he  has 
been  denouncing  as  legally  screened  by  the  ex- 
empting clause,  "  except  in  cases  of  necessity." 


THE  TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.  191 

The  original  rule  of  Mr.  Wesley,  lately  published 
in  the  "  Advocate,"  would  be  better ;  but,  until  we 
can  get  that,  let  us  come  up  to  the  fair  construc- 
tion of  our  present  rule. 

He  urges  Methodist  preachers  to  enlighten  the 
church  and  the  world  by  frequent  sermons,  and 
through  private  conversation  to  persuade  any  that 
are  slow  to  yield.  He  is  sure,  that  if  they  all 
work  in  unison,  they  will  bring  about  a  universal 
triumph  in  America.  To  people  who  say:  "I 
have  been  a  member  of  a  temperance  society  ever 
since  I  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 
Why  should  I  join  another?"  Dr.  Fisk  gives  the 
cogent  reason :  — 

"  First,  then,  if  you  are  already  a  member  of  a  tem- 
perance society,  embracing  all  that  is  embraced  in  these 
societies,  you  can  have  no  objection  certainly  to  joining 
another.  It  is  no  matter  to  how  many  such  societies 
you  belong,  if  you  do  good  thereby.  Again,  however 
gratified  we  might  be,  as  Methodists,  to  have  others 
come  up  and  join  our  church,  and  thus  cooperate  with 
us  in  the  temperance  cause,  and  all  other  objects  that 
we,  as  a  church,  may  wish  to  accomplish,  yet  we  know 
that  many  will  not  do  this  ;  but  if  we  will  relax  a  little 
from  the  pride  of  our  ecclesiastical  caste,  and  combine 
with  them  in  opposition  to  intemperance,  we  may  in  this 
way  unite  moral  men  of  all  religions,  and  of  no  particu- 
lar religion,  in  this  enterprise.  Thus  we  shall  strengthen 
and  encourage  them  in  a  good  cause,  and  they  will  aid 
us  in  establishing  principles  which  you  say  you  have 
long  since  espoused  and  vindicated." 


192  WILBUR  FISK. 

To  the  end  of  his  life  Dr.  Fisk  retained  the 
keenest  interest  in  this  good  cause,  so  that  he  was 
ready  to  travel,  to  lecture  on  every  phase  of  the 
measure,  to  encourage  the  formation  of  local  tem- 
perance societies  made  up  of  all  who  would  join 
them,  conference  temperance  societies,  and  organi- 
zations to  prepare  and  put  into  circulation  tem- 
perance literature  covering  every  side  of  the  ques- 
tion. In  May,  1833,  he  made  an  address,  which 
made  a  very  marked  impression,  which  was  his 
first  formal  publication  on  the  topic.  Dr.  Holdich 
says : — 

"  In  May,  1833,  he  delivered  his  celebrated  address 
on  the  nature  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits.  This 
branch  of  the  subject  was  almost  new.  The  consumers 
of  the  article  were  the  principal  objects  of  attack,  while 
the  manufacturers  and  venders  were  but  little  disturbed. 
An  inquiry  into  the  morality  of  the  trade,  therefore,  was 
not  only  novel,  it  was  bold,  evincing  no  slight  share  of 
moral  courasre.  It  was  fortunate  for  him  and  the  cause 
that  his  mode  of  presenting  the  subject  was  so  clear  and 
dispassionate.  He  selected  his  ground  with  great  skill, 
laid  down  his  premises  fairly  and  distinctly,  and  deduced 
his  conclusions  so  justly  that  few  would  be  likely  to  con- 
trovert them.  This  done,  his  close,  searching,  powerful 
appeals  carried  home  with  them  a  mighty  force,  and  yet 
they  could  scarcely  give  offense." 

So  effective  was  Mr.  Fisk's  agitation  in  behalf 
of  a  vigorous  administration  of  the  existing  law, 
and  so  scriptural  and  overwhelming  were  the  argu- 
ments adduced  in  behalf  of  a  change  in  the  law 


'o^ 


THE   TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.  193 

itseK,  that  he  had  not  been  three  months  in  his 
grave  when  the  General  Conference  shaped  its 
legislation  on  temperance  as  follows  :  — 

"  Question.  What  directions  shall  he  given  concern- 
ing the  sale  and  use  of  spirituous  liquors  ? 

^'■Answer.  If  any  memher  of  our  society  retail  or 
give  s})iriLuous  liquors,  and  anything  disorderly  be  trans- 
acted under  his  roof  on  this  account,  the  preacher  who 
has  the  oversight  of  the  circuit  shall  proceed  against  him 
as  in  the  case  of  other  immoralities,  and  the  person  ac- 
cused shall  be  cleared,  censured,  suspended,  or  excluded, 
according  to  his  conduct,  as  on  other  charges  of  im- 
morality." 

To  Wilbur  Fisk  more  than  to  any  other  man  is 
due  the  credit  of  this  change  in  the  letter  of  the 
law,  and  the  far  greater  change  in  the  spirit  in 
which  the  rule  was  administered,  which  has  since 
pervaded  the  whole  church. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SLAVERY. 

In  January,  1835,  Dr.  Fisk  was  Informed  by 
the  editor  of  "  Zion's  Herald  "  that  the  paper  was 
to  be  opened  for  the  discussion  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion, and  he  was  invited  to  bear  a  part  in  the  de- 
bate. So  far  Mr.  Fisk  had  held  aloof  from  the 
contention,  because  he  thought  the  ultra  doctrines 
of  the  new  movement  likely  to  have  pernicious  con- 
sequences in  church  and  state.  He  saw  that  the 
partisans  of  the  new  measures  hoped  to  create  a 
popular  effervescence  which  would  be  unfavora- 
ble to  the  judicial  and  fraternal  spirit  essential  to 
the  wisest  settlement  of  so  grave  a  question,  with 
all  its  complicated  social  and  political  relations. 
Hence  he  meant  to  keep  silent. 

Meanwhile  the  Rev.  George  Storrs,  a  leading 
Methodist  anti- slavery  agitator,  took  Dr.  Fisk's 
address  on  temperance,  and  changed  it  into  an 
anti-slavery  document  by  putting  in  brackets  after 
the  words  used  by  the  author  others  necessary  to 
give  the  document  an  anti-slavery  squint.  Against 
this  "  unauthorized  transformation "  Mr.  Fisk 
printed  a  spirited  protest  in  "  Zion's  Herald ;  "  but 
finding  neither  Mi*.  Storrs  nor  his  friends  disposed 


SLAVERY.  195 

to  apologize,  he  embodied  his  views  in  the  follow- 
ing cool,  keen,  but  Christian  letter  to  the  "  Her- 
ald:"— 

"  Mr.  Editor,  —  I  am  sorry  to  notice  that  both 
Brother  Storrs  and  his  friends  for  him  persist  in  main- 
taining the  propriety  of  his  course  in  respect  to  the  met- 
anior2)hosis  of  my  temperance  address.  If  Brother  Storrs 
really  feels,  after  a  fair  review  of  the  subject,  that  he  is 
justified  in  that  course,  and  if  he  also  justifies  the  per- 
sonal reflections  which  have  been  thrown  out  in  the  paper 
of  which  he  is  a  principal  proprietor,  in  reference  to  my 
disclaimer,  I  can  only  say  he  does  not  view  the  subject 
as  I  view  it,  or  as  most  of  those  whose  opinions  I  have 
heard  and  read  on  the  subject.  Brother  Storrs  may 
rest  assured,  however,  that  my  Christian  regards  toward 
him  are  the  same  as  ever,  because  I  believe  the  error 
the  effect  of  an  honest  zeal,  which  is  not  according  to 
knoicledge. 

"  Brother  Storrs  is  hereby  further  assured  that  I  do 
not  consider  the  offense  of  so  high  a  character  as  seems 
to  have  been  attributed  to  it  by  some  of  the  public  peri- 
odicals. He  did  not  say  the  abolition  sentiments  were 
mine.  It  is  true,  those  who  did  not  know  my  senti- 
timents  on  abolition  would,  if  I  had  not  disclaimed  it, 
naturally  have  supposed  that  I  consented  to  such  a  use 
of  my  composition,  especially  as  Brother  Storrs  did  not 
inform  the  public  that  I  had  not  consented  to  it,  nor  yet 
that  I  was  not  a  modern  abolitionist.  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, in  my  reply,  accuse  him  of  designing  to  represent 
me  as  an  abolitionist,  and  I  regret  to  see  that  design  at- 
tributed to  him.  I  know  him  too  well  to  believe  he 
would  knowingly  misrepresent  the  opinions  of  another, 


196  WILBUR  FISK. 

or  take  what  he  believed  to  be  improper  means  to  pro- 
pagate his  own  opinions  ;  and  I  thought  I  knew  him  well 
enough  to  believe  that,  when  his  attention  was  recalled 
to  a  step  improper  in  itself,  he  would  see  it  and  retract. 
But  if  I  was  mistaken  in  this,  I  have  nothing  more  to 
say  on  that  point :  the  public  have  my  views. 

"W.  FiSK." 

This  was  one  of  those  subjects  that  was  not  to 
be  kept  back  by  any  amount  of  self-restraint,  can- 
dor, or  tact  on  the  part  of  the  conservatives.  De- 
spite himself,  there  were  few  subjects  that  occu- 
pied Dr.  Fisk's  thoughts  more  largely  than  this ; 
and  rarely  has  he  been  worse  misunderstood  than 
on  this  question.  While  he  was  yet  alive  he  com- 
plained sadly  that  he  was  called  a  pro-slavery  man, 
an  apologist  for  slavery,  and  a  champion  of  oppres- 
sion. This  evil  fame  he  bears  to-day,  so  that  his 
conduct  must  be  discriminatingly  weighed. 

On  December  19,  1834,  "An  Appeal  to  the 
Members  of  the  New  England  and  New  Hamp- 
shire Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  "  was  published  in  Boston,  signed  by  Ship- 
ley W.  Willson,  Abram  D.  Merrill,  Le  Eoy  Sun- 
derland, George  Storrs,  and  Jared  Perkins.  The 
subject  of  the  appeal  was  slavery.  The  aim  of 
the  document  was  not  only  to  speak  of  the  wrongs 
of  the  needy  and  helpless  slave,  but  also  for  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  "  We  feel  that  we 
should  prove  ourselves  utterly  unfit  for  the  rela- 
tion we  sustain  to  the  church,  eitlier  as  members 
or  ministers,  were  we  longer  to  keep  silence  and 


SLAVERY.  197 

do  nothins:  to  avert  the  dreadful  evils  with  which 
slavery  threatens  so  evidently  her  peace  and  pros- 
perity. We  cannot  look  on  with  indifference  and 
see  some  of  the  plainest  rules  of  her  discipline  out- 
ra2.ed  and  set  at  defiance."  After  a  summary  view 
of  the  evils  of  slavery  they  say  :  — 

"  Hence  we  say  the  system  is  wrong,  it  is  cruel  and 
unjust  in  all  its  parts  and  princi])les,  and  that  no  Chris- 
tian can  consistently  lend  his  influence  or  example  for 
one  moment  in  support  of  it,  and  consequently  it  should 
be  abandoned  now  and  forever." 


But  so  far  is  this  from  being  so  that  — 

"  Hundreds  of  her  ministers  and  thousands  of  her 
members  are  enslavers  of  their  fellow-men,  as  they  have 
been  for  years.  Tliey  hold  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men, 
women,  and  children  —  many  of  whom  are  members 
of  the  same  church  with  themselves  —  in  abject  slavery, 
and  still  retain  their  standing  without  any  censure  on 
tbis  account.  Nay,  the  '  Christian  Advocate  and  Jour- 
nal,' the  official  organ  of  the  church,  apologizes  for  the 
crimes  of  the  enslaver  of  the  human  species,  and  at- 
tempts to  justify  the  system." 

Against  this  course  they  quote  these  Scrip- 
tures :  — 

"  And  he  tbat  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if 
he  be  found  in  his  band,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death  " 
(Exodus  xxi.  16).  "  If  a  man  be  found  stealing  any  of 
his  bretliren  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  maketh  mer- 
chandise of  him,  or  selleth  him,  then  that  thief  shall 
die  ;  and  thou  shalt  put  evil  away  from  among  you  " 
(Deut.  xxiv.  7).     "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 


198  WILBUR  FISK. 

self"  (Matt.  xxii.  39).  "Therefore  all  things  whatso- 
ever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even 
so  unto  them  "  (Matt.  vii.  12).  "  Masters,  give  unto 
your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal,  knowing 
that  ye  also  have  a  Master  in  heaven  "  (Col.  iv.  1). 
"Let  every  man  abide  in  the  calling  wherein  he  was 
called.  Art  thou  called,  being  a  servant  ?  care  not  for 
it :  but  if  thou  mayest  be  free,  use  it  rather.  For  he 
that  is  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  servant,  is  the  Lord's 
free  man.  Likev»^ise  also  he  that  is  called,  being  free,  is 
Christ's  servant.  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price ;  be  not 
ye  the  servants  of  men  "  (1  Cor.  vii.  20-23). 

Various  comments  are  made  on  these  passages 
of  the  Bible,  of  which  the  essential  ones,  as  bearing 
on  the  duty  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
are,  first,  "  that  a  certain  kind  of  servitude  was 
permitted  by  the  Jewish  economy  ;  "  and,  second, 
"  that  two  things  are  apparent :  first,  that  Chris- 
tianity does  not  alter  the  civil  connection  which 
one  man  may  sustain  to  another,  merely  by  his  em- 
bracing it.  Secondly,  slavery  is  here  condemned, 
inasmuch  as  the  apostle  commands  such  as  were 
slaves  to  use  the  first  opportunity  which  might  be 
afforded  them  for  obtaining  their  liberty." 

The  address  analyzes  the  rules  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  on  slavery  as  follows  :  — 

"  1.  Slavery  is  '  a  great  evil,'  and  we  declare  that  we 
are  '  as  much  as  ever  convinced  of  it.' 

"  2.  No  '  enslaver  of  men,  women,  or  children  '  is 
'truly  awakened,'  and  hence  he  cannot  have  a  sincere 
'  desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come '  (Dis.  ch.  xi. 
sec.  1). 


SLAVERY.  199 

"  3.  No  *  enslaver  of  men,  women,  or  children '  can  be 
received  or  continued  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
coi)al  Church  (Dis.,  ch.  xi.  sec.  1). 

"  4.  Traveling  preachers  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  may  become  enslavers  of  men,  women,  or  chil- 
dren in  those  States  where  the  laws  will  not  admit  of 
their  giving  their  slaves  theu*  freedom  after  they  have 
bought  them." 

Quoting  provisions  made  in  the  General  Confer- 
ence of  1804  to  protect  the  purity  of  the  church 
by  requiring  the  ministry  to  converse  freely  and 
faithfully  with  slave-holders  desiring  to  become 
members  of  the  church  about  the  sinfulness  of 
slavery,  and  compellhig  manumission  when  the 
laws  would  permit,  a  great  point  is  made  over  the 
words:  "Nevertheless  the  members  of  our  socie- 
ties in  the  States  of  North  Carolina,  South  Car- 
olina, Georgia,  and  Tennessee  shall  be  exempted 
from  the  operation  of  the  above  rules." 

"  But  what  changed  the  nature  of  this  '  fjreat  evil 
in  the  States  of  North  and  South  Carolina.  Georgia, 
and  Tennessee  ?  Yearly  the  church  is  becoming  more 
deeply  involved,  for  '  the  general  minutes  of  our  annual 
conferences  announce  eighty  thousand  colored  members 
in  our  church  ;  .  .  .  but  what  proportion  of  these  and 
others  are  enslaved  by  the  Methodist  members  and 
preachers,  we  have  no  means  of  determining." 

The  address  asks  what  are  the  opinions  of 
Wesley,  Adam  Clarke,  and  Richard  Watson,  and 
the  English  Weslej'an  Conference,  on  such  a  state 
of  things  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


200  WILBUR  FISK. 

Then  comes  a  long  and  impressive  citation  from 
Wesley's  "Thoughts  on  Slavery,"  which  fails  to 
show  either  that  Wesley  did  think  that  slave- 
holders were  never  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of 
the  apostolic  churches,  or  that  he  had  ever  made 
slave-holding  a  ground  of  exclusion  from  the  sacra- 
ment when  he  was  pastor  of  a  church  at  Savannah 
in  a  slave-holding  community,  or  in  the  discij)line 
of  his  societies  in  slave-holding  countries,  like  the 
West  Indies  or  the  Southern  States. 

From  Adam  Clarke  they  produce  this  declara- 
tion :  "  In  heathen  countries  slavery  is  in  some 
sense  excusable ;  among  Christians  it  is  an  enor- 
mity and  a  crime  for  which  perdition  hardly  is 
an  adequate  state  of  punishment,"  —  a  statement 
whose  white  heat  is  no  less  manifest  than  its  failure 
to  cover  the  point  at  issue. 

From  Richard  Watson  they  cite  resolutions 
presented  by  him  at  the  English  Wesleyan  Con- 
ference, when  the  cause  of  West  Indian  emancipa- 
tion was  on  the  verge  of  its  complete  victory  in 
the  British  Parliament.  The  resolutions  are  a 
solemn  and  impressive  statement  of  the  moral  and 
religious  grounds  on  which  the  conference  desired 
to  see  West  Indian  slavery  abolished,  ending  with 
the  recommendation  that  Wesleyan  petitions  and 
votes  should  be  used  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery. 
These  are  all  the  authorities.  The  address  con- 
cludes with  three  recommendations  :  — 

"  1.  These  evils  have  come  upon  us  while  we  have 
been  sleeping  and  dreaming  of  prosperity ;   and  so  we 


SLAVERY.  201 

have  been  resting  unconscious  of  any  danger,  until  the 
horrid  monster  has  insinuated  himself  into  the  church 
of  God,  and  blighted  her  fairest  prospects  with  his  pes- 
tiferous breath.  And  how  can  we  be  faithful  to  our 
solemn  trust  without  informing  ourselves  upon  this  mo- 
mentous subject  ? 

"  2.  God  himself  commands  us  to  '  remember  them 
that  are  in  bonds,  as  bound  with  them  ;  and  them  which 
suffer  adversity,  as  being  yourselves  also  in  the  body ' 
(Heb.  xiii.  3). 

"  3.  If,  as  we  trust  it  has  been  made  fully  to  appear, 
slavery  is  one  general  system  of  violence,  robbery,  injus- 
tice, vice,  and  oppression,  then  it  is  a  sin  in  the  sight  of 
Heaven,  and  ought  to  cease  at  once,  now  and  forever. 
But  mark  us  here.  We  would  have  their  situation  one 
which  would  secure  to  them,  by  adequate  and  impartially 
administered  laws,  the  right  of  enjoying  the  fruit  of 
their  own  labor,  and  the  right  of  obtaining  secular  and 
religious  education." 

The  reason  why  the  signers  o£  this  document 
resorted  to  this  j)ublication  was  because  the  papers 
of  the  church  were  not  open  to  them. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  1835,  was  issued  a 
"  Counter  Appeal,"  addressed  to  the  same  parties, 
signed  by  AV.  Fisk,  John  Lindsey,  Bartholomew 
Otheman,  Hezekiah  S.  Ramsdell,  Edward  T.  Tay- 
lor, Abel  Stevens,  Jacob  Sanborn,  and  E.  H. 
White. 

It  is  evident  enough  that  this  document,  not- 
withstanding the  number  of  names  signed  to  it, 
proceeds  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Fisk,  so  that  we 


202  WILBUR  FISK. 

shall  analyze  it  as  the  embodiment  of  his  personal 
views.     Of  the  "  Appeal "  it  is  asserted  :  — 

"  Against  that  publication,  fraught  as  it  is  with  doc- 
trines radically  erroneous  ;  arraigning  as  it  does  the  fa- 
thers, the  discipline,  and  the  institutions  of  our  church; 
and  productive,  as  we  fear  it  must  be,  of  consequences 
deeply  injurious  to  the  holy  cause  in  which  the  affec- 
tions and  powers  of  our  souls  are  engaged,  —  we  firmly 
declare  our  dissent,  and  earnestly  enter  our  protest." 

After  an  earnest  appeal  to  all  parties  engaged 
in  the  discussion  to  exhibit  candor,  fair-minded- 
ness, and  a  truth-loving  spirit,  the  paper  contin- 
ues :  — 

"  With  regard  to  their  theoretic  view  of  slavery,  the 
following  sentence  appears  to  convey  the  most  concise 
and  explicit  expression  :  '  We  say  the  system  is  wrong, 
it  is  cruel  and  unjust  in  all  its  parts  and  principles,  and 
that  no  Christian  can  consistently  lend  his  influence  or 
example  for  one  moment  in  support  of  it,  and  conse- 
quently it  should  be  abandoned  now  and  forever.'  This 
general  proposition  has,  like  many  other  of  the  broad 
maxims  used  by  the  advocates  of  our  brethren's  views, 
the  merit  at  once  of  a  simple  conciseness  and  sweeping 
comprehensiveness,  which,  however  convenient  for  splen- 
did declamation,  even  the  authors  find  somewhat  embar- 
rassing when  they  are  to  be  applied  to  practical  opera- 
tions. .  .  .  We  understand  it  as  declaring  that  no  part 
of  the  system  is  just  or  humane,  that  no  Christian  can 
consistently  support  any  part  of  it,  and  that  the  whole 
should  be  this  moment  abandoned.  From  other  parts 
of  the  '  Appeal '  we  also  undei'stand  them  to  maintain 


SLAVERY.  203 

that  they  consider  the  doctrine  of  our  disciplinary  Gen- 
eral Rule,  to  wliich  they  have  as  Methodists  given  their 
consent,  is,  that  no  slave-holder  is  truly  awakened,  and 
that  therefore  no  slave-holder  can  rightly  be  permitted 
a  place  in  the  Christian  church.  On  this  issue  appeal 
is  made  to  Scripture,  the  discipline  of  the  church,  the 
authorities  brought  forward  in  the  '  Ajjpeal'  itself,  a  crit- 
icism of  the  measures  presented  is  offered,  and  a  better 
method  heralded. 

"  The  argument  of  the  '  Appeal '  founded  on  Old  Tes- 
tament usages  is  neglected,  because  the  New  Testament 
is  such  an  immense  advance  on  the  Old  that  no  thought- 
ful Christian  would  wish  to  accept  any  other  than  New 
Testament  grounds  for  his  behavior  on  such  important 
matters.  How  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  bears  upon  the 
relations  of  men  to  each  other  may  be  seen  in  the  com- 
mands:  'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'  and 
'All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do 
unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them.' 

"  From  these  two  simple  texts  results  the  rule :  No- 
body has  the  right  to  remove  any  providential  evil  upon 
himself  by  imposing  a  still  greater  evil  upon  another. 
Whatever  be  the  nature  of  any  evil  imposed  by  Provi- 
dence upon  me,  —  loss  of  health,  of  liberty,  or  of  life,  — 
if  I  love  my  neighbor  as  myself,  I  shall  continue  that 
endurance  rather  than  relieve  myself  by  the  infliction  of  a 
greater  evil  upon  another.  If  any  class  of  men  to  which 
I  belong,  by  any  dispensation  of  God,  by  birth  or  other- 
wise, shall  be  placed  in  any  circumstances  of  unhappi- 
ness,  of  wliatever  kind,  they  are  bound  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  Golden  Rule  to  continue  that  state  of  unhap- 
piness,  so  long  as  it  can  be  removed  only  by  imposing 
a  still  greater  amount  of  unhappiness  upon  society  at 
large.  .   .  . 


204  WILBUR  FISK. 

"  Applying  this  same  i-easoning  to  the  specific  case  of 
slavery,  we  should  not  be  justified  in  revolutionizing  its 
position  unless  we  had  rational  grounds  to  believe  that 
such  a  process  would  add  to  the  sum  of  happiness.  .  .  . 
The  results  may  be  stated  thus  :  1.  The  authority  of 
the  master  should  terminate  so  soon  as  its  termination 
would  not  produce  more  evils  than  would  its  longer 
continuance  ;  and,  second,  this  authority  should  be  dimin- 
ished in  amount  and  severity  when  such  diminution  would 
not  produce  more  evil  than  it  would  subtract.  .  .  . 

"  And  it  may  be  well  here  to  remark  the  fallacy 
which  both  our  brethren  and  others  use  when  arguing 
the  morality  of  this  question  ;  in  founding  their  reason- 
ing, not  upon  the  relation  itself,  nor  upon  what  that  rela- 
tion would  be  in  the  hands  of  a  truly  Christian  master, 
but  upon  extreme  cases  of  licentiousness  and  cruel  abuse 
of  that  relation  in  the  hands  of  a  tyrant.  Supposing 
the  case  of  a  Christian  necessitated  to  hold  men  in  the 
relation  of  slaves,  such  would  be  the  proper  influence  of 
religion  that,  though  the  form  of  slavery  might  remain, 
its  infamies  and  its  miseries  would  cease.  When,  there- 
fore, our  brethren  and  others  portray  the  hoiTors  of 
cruelty  and  abomination  exercised  by  tyrannical  and  cruel 
masters,  carrying  out  the  specific  statements  with  all  the 
exactness  of  physical  detail,  and  ask  us  if  those  barbari- 
ties are  for  a  moment  exercisable  by  a  Christian,  or  jus- 
tifiable by  Scripture,  we  readily  answer,  certainly  not. 
It  is  as  certain  that  abuses  of  the  master's  authority  are 
not  for  a  moment  justifiable  as  that  its  existence  in  some 
cii'cumstances  is. 

"  Our  brethren  favor  us  with  an  exegesis  upon  two 
texts  which  appear  in  our  view  somewhat  unmanageable 
in  their  hands.     Between  text  and  commentary  there 


SLA  VER  Y.  205 

appears  to  be  a  fair  combat ;  and  as  they  come  to  no 
compromise,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  whicli  comes  off 
witli  the  mastery.  To  illustrate  the  justice  of  our  stric- 
tures, we  shall  give  tlieir  entire  exegesis  of  the  first,  pre- 
fixing, however,  to  the  verse  they  quote,  the  four  preced- 
ing verses,  which  they  choose  to  omit.  We  include  their 
text  and  commentary  in  quotations. 

"  '  Servants  [slaves]  obey  in  all  things  your  masters 
according  to  the  flesh  ;  not  with  eye-service,  as  men- 
pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  fearing  God.  And 
whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it  heartily,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not 
unto  men  ;  knowing  that  of  the  Lord  ye  shall  receive 
the  reward  of  the  inheritance,  for  ye  serve  the  Lord 
Christ.  But  he  that  doeth  wrong  shall  receive  for  the 
wrong  which  he  hath  done :  and  there  is  no  respect  of 
persons'  (Col.  iii.  22-25).  'Masters,  give  unto  your 
servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal ;  knowing  that  ye 
also  have  a  Master  in  heaven  '  (Col.  iv.  1).  '  This  text 
alone,  were  it  properly  obeyed,  would  annihilate  the  sys- 
tem of  slavery  from  the  church  and  nation.  And  is  it 
just  and  equal  when  the  poor  slaves  are  compelled,  often 
by  the  stroke  of  the  club  or  cowhide,  to  toil  in  weariness 
and' want  as  long  as  they  live,  till  they  finally  drop  into 
the  grave  without  their  ever  being  paid  a  penny  ? ' 

"The  question  asks,  with  the  most  ingenuous  simplicity, 
whether  the  most  tyrannic  cruelty  be  equity  and  justice  ? 
We  as  ingenuously  answer,  we  opine  not,  just  as  two 
and  two  are  not  five. 

" '  Let  every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling  Avherein 
he  was  called.  Art  thou  called,  being  a  servant  ?  Care 
not  for  it :  but  if  thou  mayest  be  free,  use  it  rather. 
For  he  that  is  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  servant,  is 
the  Lord's   freeman  :    likewise  also  he  that  is    called, 


206  WILBUR  FISK. 

being  free,  is  Christ's  servant.  Ye  are  bought  with  a 
price;  be  not  ye  the  servants  o£  men'  (1  Cor.  vii. 
20-23). 

"  Our  brethren  say,  '  From  this,  two  things  are  ap- 
parent :  first,  that  Christianity  does  not  alter  the  civil 
connection  which  one  man  may  sustain  to  another  merely 
by  his  embracing  it.'  The  writer  in  this  simple  sen- 
tence concedes  the  whole  question,  and  gives  up  the 
whole  point.  Is  not  the  relation  of  a  master  to  a  slave 
a  '  civil  connection,'  and  will  not  Christianity,  '  merely 
upon  his  embracing  it,'  dissolve  that  connection  ?  If 
not,  then  religion  and  slavery  can  exist  together,  and 
the  dispute  is  at  an  end.  Our  brethren  grant  more 
than  we  can  accept.  If  embracing  Chi-istianity  alters 
no  civil  relation,  slavery,  for  aught  religion  does,  may 
become  perpetual ;  and  thus  the  whole  is  conceded 
which  the  most  inveterate  slave-holder  can  desire.  From 
such  a  liberality  of  concession  we  beg  to  be  excused." 

In  favor  of  his  view  of  the  subject,  Dr.  Fisk 
cites  passages  which  the  "  Appeal "  neglects  to 
quote,  as  though  they  "  were  given  up  in  honest 
despair  as  impregnable  to  assault,  and  inflexible 
to  j)er version." 

"  '  Servants,  be  obedient  to  those  who  are  your  masters 
according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear  and  trembling,  in  sin- 
gleness of  heart  as  unto  Christ.  Not  with  eye-service 
as  men  -  pleasers,  but  as  servants  of  Christ,  doing  the 
will  of  God  from  the  heart ;  with  good  will  doing  ser- 
vice, as  to  tlie  Lord  and  not  to  man  ;  knowing  that  what- 
soever good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the  same  shall  he 
receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond  or  free.  And, 
ye  masters,  do   the  same  things  unto  them,  forbearing 


BL  AVERY.  207 

threatening,  knowing  that  your  Master  also  is  in  heaven ; 
neither  is  there  respect  of  persons  with  him  '  (Epli.  vi. 
6-9). 

"  '  Servants,  be  subject  to  your  masters  with  all  fear, 
not  only  to  those  who  are  good  and  gentle,  but  also  to 
the  f roward.  For  this  is  thankworthy,  if  a  man  for  con- 
science towards  God  endure  grief,  suffering  wrongfully. 
For  what  glory  is  it  if,  when  ye  be  buffeted  [boxed  or 
cuffed  on  the  ear]  for  your  faults,  ye  take  it  patiently  ? ' 
(1  Pet.  ii.  18,  19.) 

"  *  Let  as  many  servants  [slaves]  as  are  under  the 
yoke  count  their  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that 
the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed. 
And  they  that  have  believing  masters,  let  them  not 
despise  them  because  they  are  brethren,  but  rather  do 
them  service  because  they  are  faithful,  and  beloved,  and 
partakers  of  the  benefit.  These  things  exhort  and 
teach.  If  any  man  think  otherwise  ...  he  is  proud, 
knowing  nothing  '  (1  Tim.  vi.  1,  2,  etc.). 

"  These  passages  are  brought  to  show  that  in  the 
primitive  church,  under  the  apostolic  eye,  and  with 
apostolic  sanction,  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  was 
permitted  to  subsist." 

Dr.  risk  sums  up  the  discussion  of  the  attitude 
o£  the  New  Testament  to  slavery  in  these  state- 
ments :  — 

"  1.  The  relation  of  master  and  slave  was  a  tolerated 
relation. 

"  2.  Christianity  pronounces  all  men  alike  immortal, 
responsible,  and  precious  in  God's  eyes.  Hence  it  does 
attest  the  innate  ascendency  of  his  nature,  by  which  he 
must  inevitably  rise  above  this  fictitious  and  unnatural 


208  WILBUR  FISK. 

position  of  a  mere  chattel  into  an  elevation  worthy  of 
his  true  character. 

"  3.  The  letter  of  the  golden  rule  and  the  spirit  of 
the  gospel  operate  with  an  irresistible  tendency  to  the 
amelioration,  diminution,  and  destruction  of  slavery  as 
a  system ;  holding  forth  its  perpetuation  as  an  abomi- 
nation ;  and  its  continuance,  by  the  authors  of  legisla- 
tion, beyond  the  time  of  its  practical  removal,  a  sin." 

After  showing  that  Christianity  was  diffused 
under  the  influence  of  political  institutions  which 
recognized  slavery  as  a  normal  part  of  the  civil 
order,  Dr.  Fisk  shows  that  its  attitude  to  existing 
evils  was  a  guarded  one  :  — 

"  It  is  thus  historically  evident,  that  the  apostles 
preached  the  gospel  to  every  creature  under  heaven,  — 
in  the  palace  of  the  master,  if  accessible  ;  in  the  hovel 
of  the  slave,  if  permitted  ;  nor  did  they  permit  them- 
selves to  endanger  the  lives  and  safety  of  society  by  a 
reckless  carelessness  of  results :  nor  did  they  preclude 
the  possibility  of  preaching  to  the  slave  by  uncompro- 
mising injunctions  of  emancipation  upon  the  master." 

Upon  this  model,  the  discipline  and  the  admin- 
istration of  the  church  of  our  fathers  have  been 
modeled  in  respect  to  slavery.  Instead  of  excus- 
ing that  course,  he  exults  in  it ;  for  he  says  :  — 

"  The  spirit  of  our  ministering  brethren  in  the  South 
has  borne  the  impress  of  the  primitive  type.    They,  like 
the  early  apostles,  are  a  small  minority,  beneath  a  gov- 
ernment  (though  nominally  Christian)   which  has  slav 
ery  constructed  into  its  fabric,  and  is  held  by  rulers  who 


SLAVERY.  209 

have  the  will  and  the  power  to  pass  oppressive  laws, 
which  mercy  does  indeed  weep  to  see  inflicted.  It  is 
no  more  necessary  to  defend  that  wicked  system  of  leg- 
ishation,  in  order  to  justify  the  cause  of  our  brethren, 
than  it  is  necessary  to  vindicate  the  Roman  govern- 
ment in  order  to  justify  the  course  adopted  by  the  apos- 
tles." 

The  plan  of  operations  against  slavery  sketched 
in  the  "  Appeal "  seems  to  Dr.  Fisk  not  suited  to 
be  effective.  Plis  criticism  goes  straight  to  the 
mark :  — 

"  Some  glimpse  our  brethren  do  afford  us  of  a  plan 
of  emancipation,  which  we  may  briefly  notice  in  order 
to  show  how  they  refute  in  practice  what  they  assert  as 
abstract  theory.  Tliey  say  :  '  We  do  not  mean  by  this 
that  all  the  slaves  should  be  thrust  out  loose  upon  the 
nation,  like  a  herd  of  cattle,  nor  that  they  should  be 
immediately  invested  with  all  political  privileges  and 
rights,  nor  yet  that  they  should  be  banished  from  their 
native  land  to  a  distant  clime.  But  we  mean  that  the 
slaves  should  immediately  be  brought  under  the  protec- 
tion of  suitable  laws,  by  placing  them  under  such  a  su- 
pervision as  might  be  adapted  to  their  condition.'  Our 
brethren  here  specify  three  essential  parts  of  slavery  to 
be  retained  :  1.  The  slaves  are  not  to  be  '  loose,  like  a 
herd  of  cattle.'  2.  They  are  not  to  have  all  their  polit- 
ical rights.  And,  3.  They  are  to  be  under  special  laws. 
How  our  bi-ethren  can  assert  '  that  the  system  is  cruel 
and  unjust  in  all  its  parts,'  and  yet  that  these  essential 
parts  are  right,  that  '  no  Christian  can  lend  his  influence 
one  moment  to  its  support,'  yet  coolly  advise  that  these 
unjust  parts  should  be  supported  ;   that  the  entire  sys- 


210  WILBUR  FISK. 

tern  '  should  be  abandoned  now  and  forever,'  and  yet  be 
retained  indefinitely  for  years,  —  is  to  us  a  '  harmony 
not  understood.'  " 

As  to  the  authority  and  example  of  Wesley,  it 
is  said :  — 

"  Yet,  as  it  happens,  on  this  subject  it  would  be  very 
difficult  for  the  sudden  devotees  of  Mr.  Wesley's  author- 
ity to  show  very  tangible  opposition  in  principle  between 
Mr.  Wesley  and  ourselves.  Mr.  Wesley  begins  by  de- 
fining a  slavery  such  as  no  one  can  for  a  moment  sup- 
port from  the  Bible,  and  describes  such  a  slavery  as  we 
have  repeatedly  affirmed  no  Christian  can  perpetrate  ; 
and  he  concludes  with  exhortations  to  emancipation, 
without  prescribing  the  mode  or  measures  :  but  we  may 
infer  from  his  approving  letter  to  Mr.  Wilberforce  that, 
like  Wilberforce  and  the  Methodist  Conference,  Wesley 
was  a  gradualist." 

Dr.  Fisk  doubts  whether  Wesley  himself  would 
have  used  the  same  language  or  followed  the  same 
course  here  that  he  did  in  England,  or  that  he 
"  would  have  considered  it  likely  to  forward  the 
cause  of  Southern  emancipation."  Thus  he  paints 
"  the  contrariety  of  the  cases  :  "  — 

"  The  chains  which  bound  the  slaves  in  the  West  In- 
dies were  held  by  the  hands  of  the  English  Parliament, 
assembled  in  London,  and  elected  by  the  people  of  Brit- 
ain. The  path  to  emancipation,  then,  was  plain  and 
direct.  Rouse  with  thrilling  peals  the  public  efferves- 
cence, rear  a  '  system  of  agitation  '  through  the  land, 
swell  up  the  surging  tide  of  popular  commotion,  and 
Parliament  must  soon  yield.     This  was  perfectly  safe, 


SLAVERY.  211 

for  those  islands  were  too  petty  to  revolt  and  separate  ; 
it  was  perfectly  sure,  for  every  syllable  that  touched  the 
national  nerve  sent  its  electric  thrill  into  the  soul  of 
the  Parliament ;  it  was  perfectly  right,  for  with  Britain, 
people  and  Parliament,  was  the  power  of  liberation,  and 
therefore  the  responsibility  of  the  oppression.  In  all 
these  three  respects  we  are  precisely  and  diametrically 
the  reverse.  With  us,  it  would  not  be  safe  ;  for  the 
Southern  States,  near  half  the  nation  in  fii-m  phalanx, 
would  be  perfectly  able  and  willing  to  form  themselves 
into  an  independent,  perpetual  slave  empire  ;  it  could 
not  be  sure,  for  every  impulse  we  could  give  would  only 
reanimate  the  spirit  and  renerve  the  arm  of  that  cruel 
legislation  which  now  oppresses  them  ;  it  would  not  be 
right,  for  we  could  not  be  morally  justifiable  in  adopt- 
ing measui-es  rationally  certain  of  resulting  in  increased 
cruelty,  disunion,  and  confirmed  slavery." 

The  "  Address  "  is  criticised  because  its  tone 
and  spirit  are  such  as  to  obstruct  the  further  exe- 
cution of  the  only  really  effective  measures  for  the 
removal  of  slavery :  — 

"  Many  a  keen-eyed  slave-holder,  upon  principle,  is 
secretly  pleased  with  the  over-doing  violence  which  dis- 
gusts and  assails  the  friends  of  practicable  emancipation 
in  the  South  ;  which  affords  a  pretext  of  stronger  laws 
and  tighter  fetters ;  Avhich  cools  the  hopes  and  silences 
the  voice  of  the  friends  of  liberty  around  him." 

Further  agitation  would  be  sure  to  remove  the 
question  from  its  status  as  a  moral  and  ecclesias- 
tical question,  and  make  it  a  political  issue. 
"  Methodism  has  been  evangelically  powerful  be- 
cause she  has  been  politically  neutral.     Let  her 


212  WILBUR  FISK. 

become  proud  of  her  influence  and  impregnated 
with  the  spirit  of  politics,  and  her  beams  are 
dimmed,  her  strength  departed,  and  her  ruin  nigh." 
No  deliverance  can  come  to  the  slaves  from  politi- 
cal agitation.  It  is  only  those  who  do  not  like  this 
course  who  can  expect  a  hearing  from  Southern 
men.  It  was  merely  because  Wilbur  Fisk  and  his 
friends  had  kept  aloof  from  such  proceedings  that 
they  could  hope  for  a  kindly  hearing :  — 

*'  We  have  not  —  we  know  not  that  in  the  nature  of 
the  case  we  can  have — demonstration  that  our  brethren 
of  the  South  have  never,  while  laboring  for  the  salvation 
of  the  slave,  omitted  any  opportunity  of  effecting  their 
emancipation.  Of  this,  from  their  more  intimate  knowl- 
edge, they  are  best  able  to  decide ;  and  we  have  confi- 
dence in  their  piety  that  they  will  make,  upon  a  subject 
so  momentous,  a  conscientious  decision.  Yet  to  our 
brethren  of  the  South,  if  our  feeble  voice  may  not  be 
wholly  unheard  by  them,  in  language  which  we  are  sure 
they  will  recognize  as  the  general  tone  of  Christian 
brotherly  kindness,  we  would  address  our  most  intense 
entreaty  that,  unless  It  be  at  the  expense  of  higher.  Im- 
mortal Interests,  thsy  would  now,  in  this  day  of  light  and 
peace  and  of  moral  power,  emulate  the  noble  stand  of 
our  bretlnen  of  England,  and,  with  the  name  of  Wes- 
ley on  their  banners,  and  his  spirit  in  their  hearts,  would 
seize  the  timely  honor  of  leading  out  the  foremost  van 
of  the  greatest  Christian  movements  which,  In  some  of 
our  states,  are  directing  their  onward  march  towards  the 
ultimate  achievement  of  universal  emancipation." 

With  his  usual  energy  in  forwai'ding  any  views 


SLAVERY.  213 

he  had  adopted,  Dr.  Fisk  aided  in  the  format'on 
of  colonization  societies  (thongh  he  would  not  join 
an  anti-slavery  society).  He  kept  himself  informed 
as  to  their  methods  of  operation,  he  treasured  up 
documents  and  letters  setting-  forth  their  work, 
and  delighted  greatly  when  one  was  formed  at 
Middletown. 

In  an  address  before  this  body  delivered  on  July 
4,  1835,  he  states  and  argues  the  reasons  for  his 
special  devotion  to  colonization.  He  says  that 
there  is  no  natural  reason  why  a  colonization ist 
should  not  belong  to  an  anti-slavery  society  also, 
save  that  the  partisans  of  the  latter  have  waged  un- 
relenting war  upon  the  former. 

"  1.  The  anti-slavery  society  has  no  good  chance  to 
improve  the  condition  of  the  slaves. 

"  Nay,  some  of  their  lecturers  have  publicly  said  that 
one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  the  progress  of  their 
principles  was  the  fact  that  some  of  the  slave-owners 
treated  the  slaves  with  kindness.  A  meliorated  condi- 
tion of  slavery  would  be  to  them  one  of  the  most  unde- 
sirable events  that  could  occur. 

"  The  members  of  that  society  are  none  of  them 
slave-holders,  —  their  constitution  excludes  such,  —  hence 
they  cannot  liberate  slaves  themselves  in  a  private  way. 
Can  they  do  it  in  a  public  way  by  legislation  ?  It  would 
seem  not.  The  great  theatre  of  this  society's  opera- 
tions is  In  the  non-slave-holding  states.  Now,  what  have 
these  states,  in  their  legislative  capacity,  to  do  with  the 
question  of  slavery  In  the  slave-holding  states  ?  Noth- 
ing. "What  has  the  national  legislature  to  do  with  it? 
Nothing." 


214  WILBUR  FISK. 

Colonizationlsts  have  at  various  times  emanci- 
pated slaves  by  the  hundreds  :  — 

"  We  are  sometimes  taunted  with  the  demand,  by 
what  rule  of  arithmetic  we  can  calculate  the  final  extinc- 
tion of  slavery  by  colonization,  if,  in  nineteen  years,  this 
plan  has  removed  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  net  in- 
crease of  one  year.  We  will  solve  this  arithmetical 
question  when  our  opponents  will  solve  the  following : 
If,  in  three  or  four  years  of  modern  abolitionism,  not 
one  slave  has  been  liberated  by  the  society  or  any  of  its 
membei's,  how  long  will  it  take  them  to  emancipate  all 
the  slaves  of  the  United  States  ?  " 

Dr.  Fisk  next  argues  that  the  education  of  the 
free  blacks  in  the  Northern  States  has  been  quite 
as  much  in  the  hands  of  colonizationists  as  of  those 
of  abolitionists.  He  argues  that  the  social  standing 
of  free  blacks  at  the  North  has  been  rather  injured 
than  improved  by  the  anti-slavery  societies.  He 
says  that  the  agents  of  the  colonization  society 
have  improved  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the 
slave,  since  they  labor  where  labor  may  suc- 
ceed :  — 

"  The  voice  of  a  Bascom,  and  a  Finley,  and  of  a 
Breckenridge,  and  others  have  been  heard  through  the 
entire  South,  pleading  for  the  elevation  of  these  victims 
of  prejudice  and  oppression.  Nor  were  they  heard  in 
vain :  a  general  interest  was  beginning  to  be  felt,  and 
the  work  of  alleviation  was  gi'adually  advancing,  until 
an  ill-timed,  preci])itate  benevolence  began  to  urge  foi^ 
ward  its  high-pressure  system  of  agitation  and  excite- 
ment.    This  has  increased  the  severity  of  slave  legisla- 


SLAVERY.  215 

tion  ;  it  has  silenced  tlie  voice  of  discnssion  in  the  slave 
states,  and  has  checked  and  retarded,  perhaps  for  years, 
the  progress  and  final  consummation  of  slave  meliora- 
tion and  emancipation." 

The  triumph  of  such  principles  would  mean  the 
removal  of  the  question  to  the  political  arena, 
where  its  victory  would  mean  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union :  — 

"A  political  anti-slavery  party  will  doubtless  soon  be 
organized,  and  when  once  this  is  made  a  question  at  the 
polls,  its  moral  bearings  will  be  lost  sight  of.  If  such  a 
political  party  should  succeed,  nothing  short  of  a  disso- 
lution of  the  Union  would  follow.  .  .  .  There  is  nothing 
the  South  '  would  be  more  inclined  to  do  than  to  sep- 
arate herself  from  the  Northern  States,  whenever  they 
assume  a  political  attitude  in  opposition  to  her  social 
and  political  rights,  —  rights  guaranteed  to  her  by  the 
solemnities  of  constitutional  provisions  and  publicly 
plighted  faith.' 

"  At  a  late  protracted  anti-slavery  meeting  it  was 
moved  and  carried  with  acclamation,  without  a  dissent- 
ing voice,  that  all  ministers  and  church-members  who 
are  the  owners  of  slaves  ought  to  be  excluded  from  our 
pulpits  and  from  our  communion.  Let  this  doctrine  be 
carried  out,  and  what  would  be  the  consequence  ?  The 
most  ruinous  to  the  peace  of  our  churches.  The  con- 
gregational churches,  from  the  independent  character 
of  each  church  or  association,  would  feel  it  least.  The 
Baptists  would  feel  it  more.  But  these  could  not  feel  it 
like  the  Protestant  Episcopalian,  the  Presbyterian,  and 
the  Methodist  Episcojial  churches.  It  would  be  an  en- 
tire dismemberment  of   those    churches,  not  merely  a 


216  WILBUR  FISK. 

grand  division  into  Northern  and  Southern  ;  but  here  in 
the  North  we  should  be  divided  among  ourselves,  brother 
against  brother,  and  society  against  society :  and  the 
work  of  God  would  be  neglected  and  the  spirit  of  devo- 
tion lost  in  the  schisms  and  contentions  which  would 
ensue.  .  .  .  No  church  would  suffer  like  ours.  We  are 
not  only  bound  together  by  a  common  faith,  a  common 
discipline,  and  common  ecclesiastical  judicatories,  but  we 
are  united  also  by  a  common  pastoral  charge,  by  which 
the  whole  flock  is,  in  a  manner,  the  property  of  each 
and  every  pastor,  and  each  and  every  pastor  the  prop- 
erty of  the  whole  flock.  Throw  this  spirit  of  disfellow- 
ship  and  schism  into  a  religious  community  thus  consti- 
tuted, and  what  would  be  the  result  ?  .  .  .  Even  infidels 
would  weep  at  the  consequences,  political,  social,  and 
domestic,  that  would  follow  such  a  schism." 

Once,  when  Dr.  Fisk  was  returning  from  New 
York  to  his  home  by  steamboat,  he  had  as  fellow- 
passengers  several  earnest  abolitionists,  one  of 
whom  was  the  Hon.  James  G.  Birney.  They  be- 
came involved  in  a  discussion  of  slavery.  Shortly 
after  Dr.  Fisk  received  a  request  to  correct  a  par- 
tial and  garbled  account  of  their  debate,  that  Mr. 
Birney  might  publish  it.  This  elicited  the  follow- 
ing response :  — 

"  Hon.  James  G.  Birney  :  — 

"  Dear  Sir,  —  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  at  the 
reception  of  your  note  of  the  fourth  instant,  announcing 
your  i)urpose  to  publish  a  sketch  of  the  discussion  we 
held  on  Saturday  last,  while  on  our  way  from  New 
York  to  New  Haven. 


SLAVERY.  217 

"To  this  I  have  many  objections.  Among  others, 
before  I  choose  to  have  my  sentiments  spread  before 
the  public,  I  prefer  to  do  it  myself,  in  my  own  words, 
and  in  my  own  way.  In  these  times  of  public  calunmy 
and  misrepresentation,  I  would  not  have  a  familiar 
friend  publish  my  sentiments  for  me,  much  less  an 
interested  opponent. 

"  I  object,  also,  to  the  sketch  given  in  your  letter,  as 
one-sided,  deficient,  and  unfair.  I  do  not  accuse  you 
of  designing  to  misrepresent  the  conversation ;  I  only 
state  the  fact,  as  a  reason  for  objecting  to  your  proposed 
course.  If  you  should  publish  your  sketch  as  it  is  given 
in  your  letter  to  me,  one  of  two  things  must  follow  :  I 
must  be  silent  and  suffer  the  public  to  be  deceived,  or  I 
must  enter  into  a  public  controversy  with  you.  For  the 
latter  alternative  I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination. 
The  public,  sir,  do  not  pay  me  a  salary  to  spend  my 
time  writing  upon  this  subject.  I  am  engaged  in  other 
and  important  duties ;  and  if  I  appear  befoi-e  the  pub- 
lic, I  must  choose  my  own  time  and  manner  of  doing 
it,  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  other  paramount  engage- 
ments. 

"  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  many  abo- 
litionists, I  know,  to  draw  others  before  the  public  when 
and  as  they  will,  without  reference  to  the  proprieties 
and  courtesies  of  life.  That  you,  sir,  are  of  this  char- 
acter, I  have  yet  to  learn.  If,  however,  you  attempt  it 
with  me  in  this  case,  and  in  the  manner  proposed,  you 
will  have  learned  beforehand  that  I  consider  it  ttnfair, 
ungentlemanly,  and  unchristian. 

"  Most  respectfully  yours, 

"  W.  FisK." 


218  WILBUR   FISK. 

Yet  Mr.  Birney  published  liis  sketch,  with  the 
accompanying  correspondence. 

By  this  time  Dr.  Fisk  had  come  to  the  settled 
conviction  that  some  of  the  leaders  in  the  agitation 
meant  to  divide  the  church,  unless  they  could 
force  their  views  upon  the  whole  body.  This  view 
he  announced  to  various  ministerial  friends  both 
at  the  North  and  in  the  South.  So  strong  were 
his  fears  that  he  kept  a  keen  watch  on  the  contes- 
tants to  hinder  any  such  efforts.  In  certain  arti- 
cles in  the  "  Christian  Advocate "  he  denounced 
the  Rev.  George  Storrs  for  having  committed  him- 
self to  schismatic  principles.  In  the  same  articles 
he  gave  such  offense  to  La  Roy  Sunderland,  the 
editor  of  "  Zion's  "Watchman,"  that  he  sent  Dr. 
Fisk  formal  notice  that  charges  would  be  presented 
against  him  of  defamation  and  slander  at  the 
Conference  of  1838.  Dr.  Fisk's  outline  of  his 
defense  exists  in  his  own  hand,  showing  that,  even 
with  Sunderland's  own  statement  of  the  facts, 
there  was  no  defamation,  no  slander.  But  the 
testimony  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Luckey  and  another 
witness,  both  from  New  York,  proved  the  truth  of 
Dr.  Fisk's  allegations  so  directly  that  the  prosecu- 
tion broke  down. 

The  course  events  did  take,  both  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  and  in  the  nation  at  large, 
was  such  as  to  vindicate  the  soundness  of  Mr. 
Fisk's  judgment.  These  new  movements  had  got 
such  full  possession  of  the  conference  that  he 
thought  this  the  controlling  influence  in  the  elee- 


SLAVERY.  219 

tion  of  delegates  to  the  General  Conference  of 
1836,  and  he  protested  against  this  change  by  re- 
siffninir  his  own  seat  in  the  General  Conference, 
and  having  his  reasons  for  the  step  entered  on  the 
journal.  The  organization  of  a  new  church,  under 
the  leadership  of  Orange  Scott,  showed  how  true 
was  Dr.  risk's  much  denounced  assertion,  that 
some  of  the  abolition  leaders  would  rather  divide 
the  church  than  wholly  fail  in  their  enterprise. 
The  division  of  the  parent  body  into  two  sectional 
bodies,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  in  1844,  sent 
ecclesiastical  discord  and  contention  into  every 
Methodist  conference,  society,  class  -  meeting,  or 
home.  The  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  even  on  a 
platform  which  foreboded  no  attacks  upon  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  existed 
under  constitutional  protection,  was  the  signal  for 
the  secession  of  the  Southern  States  from  the 
Union. 

One  may  fairly  doubt  the  feasibility  of  the  plan 
of  action  in  reference  to  slavery  proposed  by  Dr. 
Eisk  and  his  associates,  but  how  can  anybody 
wonder  that  the  scheme  appealed  to  his  confidence 
as  a  Christian  and  his  hopes  as  a  patriot  ?  Can 
any  one  doubt  but  that  the  proper  effect  of  the 
Christian  religion  operating  upon  the  minds  of 
Christian  masters  and  slaves  would  be  to  rob  that 
awful  system  of  its  infamy  and  cruelty?  Why 
could  not  such  cases  be  reproduced,  by  high  and 
holy  and  constant  endeavor,  so  widely  as  to  render 


220  WILBUR  FISK. 

community  after  community,  and  state  after  state 
the  abodes  of  the  most  enlightened  opposition  to 
human  bondage  ?  Such  a  faith  might  seem  hope- 
less, and  such  a  task  impossible ;  but  nothing  is 
impossible  to  Christian  wisdom  and  love. 

Had  such  a  conquest  of  human  reason  and  Chris- 
tian love  banished  American  slavery  off  the  face 
of  the  earth,  that  would  have  been  one  of  the  no- 
blest victories  our  Christian  civilization  has  ever 
won.  We  should  have  had  no  schisms  in  the  local 
or  national  churches.  Slavery  would  have  been 
gradually  abolished  by  the  voluntary  action  of 
enlightened  slave-holders,  by  the  careful  legislation 
of  wise  and  well-informed  statesmen,  suj^ported  by 
the  sympathy  and  cooperation  of  all  who  bear  the 
Christian  name. 

There  would  have  been  no  rebellion,  with  its 
immense  drafts  upon  the  life  and  the  treasury  of 
our  nation.  Death  in  battle  and  camp  would  not 
have  scattered  consternation,  sorrow,  and  bereave- 
ment through  all  the  homes  of  our  fair  land.  No 
jealousy  of  North  and  South,  no  Ku-klux  Klans, 
no  frauds  on  the  ballot-box,  no  military  govern- 
ments, no  mutual  jealousies  and  rivalries  in  the 
good  work  of  enlightening  and  educating  the  col- 
ored people,  and  no  direful  race  prejudices  to  ob- 
struct the  spirit  of  American  political  and  social 
advancement. 

An([  how  easy  to  turn  the  self-denial  and  self- 
control  won  in  such  a  triumphant  struggle  against 
such  an  enormous  evil  system  against  other  evils 


SLAV  EH  Y.  221 

which  still  infest  and  curse  our  country !  To  win 
the  whole  world  to  the  side  of  Jesus  Christ  would 
have  seemed  easy  to  the  veterans  who  had  with 
their  combined  efforts  put  away  slavery,  root  and 
branch,  from  our  country. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY. 

De.  Fisk,  notwithstanding  his  manifold  labors, 
was  always  deeply  interested  in  missionary  toil. 
He  gave  freely  of  his  means,  time,  and  efforts  to 
diffuse  the  missionary  spirit  throughout  the  entire 
church  of  God.  He  preached,  lectured,  sent  com- 
munications to  the  newspapers,  in  order  to  diffuse 
useful  knowledge  concerning  this  work,  and  to  re- 
kindle apostolic  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  souls. 
He  induced  the  Young  Men's  Missionary  Society 
of  New  York  to  support  a  missionary  to  Liberia. 
He,  whose  devotion  to  the  negro  race  was  disi^uted 
by  men  who  hated  the  Colonization  Society,  whose 
cause  was  advocated  by  Dr.  Fisk  with  such  ability 
and  effect,  offered  his  own  services  for  the  Liberian 
Mission,  and  would  have  actually  gone  to  labor 
and  lay  down  his  life  on  that  dangerous  coast,  but 
for  the  irresistible  protests  that  came  from  the 
friends  of  Wesleyan  University.  He  rejoiced  in 
the  appointment  of  Rev.  Melville  B.  Cox  to  the 
perilous  field  which  he  had  coveted  for  himself, 
and  visited  New  York  and  other  i)laces  to  raise 
money  for  that  noble  work. 

The  missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


MANIFOLD  ACTIVITY.  223 

amongst  the  Canadian  Indians  had  been  so  suc- 
cessful that  numerous  and  flourishing  stations  were 
established  amongst  them.  Few  of  these  converts 
could  read  English,  and,  as  there  was  no  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  into  their  language,  the 
progress  of  the  native  churches  was  slow  and  pain- 
ful. Dr.  Fisk,  in  seconding  a  speech  by  the  Rev. 
W.  Case  in  behalf  of  this  work,  induced  the  Young 
Men's  Bible  Society  to  secure  three  thousand  dol- 
lars for  printing  the  entire  New  Testament  in  the 
Mohawk  tongue.  This  proposal  was  made  in  1831, 
and  Dr.  Fisk  did  his  utmost  to  carry  out  this  be- 
nevolent work  until  the  translation  was  completed 
in  1839.  A  well  of  salvation  to  those  tribes  has 
that  precious  book  become. 

In  1833  four  Indians  of  the  Flathead  tribe  had 
made  their  appearance  at  St.  Louis  to  inquire  into 
the  Christian  religion.  Two  of  the  four  messen- 
gers who  brought  this  novel  report  had  visited  one 
of  the  Catholic  mission  schools  in  Canada,  and  so 
their  interest  had  been  excited.  But  the  imme- 
diate occasion  of  this  singular  embassy  was  the  fact 
that  some  visitor  of  their  idolatrous  feasts  had  told 
them  that  their  methods  of  worshiping  the  Great 
Spirit  were  entirely  wrong  and  deeply  displeasing 
to  him,  and  that  the  white  people  far  to  the  east- 
ward had  a  book  which  would  tell  them  how  to 
worship  God  with  acceptance  in  his  sight.  So  much 
were  they  moved  by  this  statement  that  they  called 
a  council  to  deliberate  on  the  subject,  and  four 
chiefs  were  dispatched  to  the  East  in  quest  of  infor- 


224  WILBUR  FISK. 

mation.  These  chiefs  had  heard  of  General  Clarke, 
the  companion  of  Lewis  on  his  travels  through 
the  Oregon  Territory,  and  turned  their  steps  to 
St.  Louis,  where  Clarke  then  resided  as  Indian 
commissioner ;  for  they  thought  he  must  be  able  to 
give  them  information  about  the  white  man's  God 
and  his  religion.  General  Clarke  kindly  gave 
these  ignorant  but  noble  men  the  main  facts  of 
the  history  of  the  Bible,  the  great  central  truths 
concerning  the  nature  of  God,  the  incarnation, 
and  the  redemptive  death  of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the  CJmstian 
faith.  The  facts  here  set  forth  were  sent  to  G.  P. 
Disosway,  Esq.,  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  William 
Walker,  the  exploring  agent  of  the  Wyandots, 
and  appeared  in  the  "  Christian  Advocate  and 
Journal,"  March  1,  1833.  Though  burdened  with 
work  at  the  university.  Dr.  Fisk's  eye  caught  sight 
of  the  wonderful  tidings  of  the  quest  of  heathen 
tribes  for  a  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  He  at 
once  read  the  article  aloud  to  Mi's.  Fisk  and  said, 
"  We  will  have  a  mission  there." 

"  It  would  be  a  noble  enterprise,  but  where 
will  you  get  the  man  ?  " 

"  I  know  of  but  one  in  the  world  every  way 
qualified  for  such  an  undertaking,  and  you  know 
who  that  is." 

"  Yes,  but  you  are  too  late  for  him.  You  know 
Mr.  Jason  Lee  is  about  to  apply  for  admission  to 
the  British  Conference." 

Mr.  Fisk  wrote  a  letter,  before  sitting  down,  to 


MANIFOLD  ACTIVITY.  225 

Mr.  Lee,  and  thus  by  his  promptness  and  decision 
secured  the  most  available  man  in  the  world  for 
the  Oregon  mission.  Then  he  sounded  the  follovv- 
ins:  buole  -  call  in  the  "  Christian  Advocate  and 
Journal :  "  — 

"  HEAR  !     HEAR  !     WHO    WILL     RESPOND    TO     THE     CALL 
BEYOND    THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAINS? 

"  Messrs.  Editors,  —  The  communication  of  Brother 
G.  P.  Disosway,  inclosing  one  from  the  Wyandot  agent 
on  the  subject  of  the  deputation  of  the  Flathead  Indians 
to  General  Clarke,  has  excited  in  many  in  this  section 
intense  interest.  And,  to  be  short  about  it,  we  are  for 
having  a  mission  established  there  at  once.  I  have  pro- 
posed the  following  plan  :  Let  two  suitable  men,  unin- 
cumbered with  families,  and  possessing  the  spirit  of  mar- 
tyrs, throw  themselves  into  the  nation  ;  live  with  them  ; 
learn  their  language  ;  jjreach  Clu'ist  to  them  ;  and,  as 
the  way  opens,  introduce  schools,  agriculture,  and  the 
arts  of  civiHzed  life.  The  means  for  these  improvements 
can  be  furnished  through  the  fur-traders,  and  by  the 
reinforcements  with  which  we  can  from  time  to  time 
strengthen  the  mission.  Money  shall  be  forthcoming. 
I  will  be  bondsman  for  the  church.  All  we  want  is  the 
men.  Who  will  go  ?  Who  ?  I  know  one  young  man 
who  I  think  Avill  go,  and  of  whonr  I  can  say  I  know 
none  like  him  for  the  enterprise.  If  he  will  go  (and  we 
have  written  to  him  on  the  subject),  we  only  want  an- 
other, and  the  mission  will  be  commenced  the  coming 
season.  Were  I  young  and  healthy  and  unincumbered, 
how  gladly  would  I  go !  But  this  honor  is  reserved  for 
another.  Bright  will  be  his  crown,  glorious  his  reward. 
"  Affectionately  yours,  W.  FiSK. 

'*  Wesleyan  Univeksitv.  March  9,  1833." 


226  WILBUR  FISK. 

This  spirited  appeal  brought  offers  from  quite  a 
number  of  devoted  ministers  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  who  would  readily  have  foregone  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  civihzed  existence,  and  confronted  the 
dangers  of  barbarian  life,  with  the  probability  of  a 
premature  death,  if  only  they  might  lead  the  sav- 
ages of  the  Oregon  region  to  the  true  faith  and  a 
godly  life.  But  before  these  offers  reached  Dr. 
Fisk  by  mail,  he  had  already  obtained  the  Rev. 
Jason  Lee  and  his  nephew.  Rev.  Daniel  Lee,  and 
Mr.  Cyrus  Shepherd,  who  went  out  as  a  school- 
teacher. By  the  ensuing  November,  these  three 
were  accepted  by  the  Missionary  Society,  and  ap- 
pointed by  Bishop  Hedding  to  their  remote  scene 
of  labor  and  sufferings.  While  they  were  still 
lingering  in  New  York,  uncertain  what  sort  of 
preparation  would  be  most  useful  to  them  in  their 
work,  news  reached  Dr.  Fisk  that  a  Captain  Wyeth 
had  returned  to  Boston  from  a  trading  expedition 
to  Oregon.     Says  Dr.  Holdich  :  — 

"  This  seemed  like  an  opening  of  Providence.  By  the 
advice  of  the  board  they  turned  their  course  to  Boston. 
On  this  journey  Dr.  Fisk  accompanied  them,  aiding 
them  by  his  counsel,  and  holding  public  meetings  with 
them.  He  preached  on  Friday  and  on  Sunday  evenings 
in  the  Bronifield  Street  Church,  and  on  the  former  oc- 
casion Captain  Wyeth  answered,  in  the  presence  of  the 
congregation,  sundiy  questions  touching  the  prospects  of 
a  mission  to  Oregon,  and  gave  much  information  highly 
valuable  to  the  missionaries.  .  .  .  Early  in  the  sjjring 
the  missionaries  proceeded  to  St.  Louis,  holding  public 


MANIFOLD  ACTIVITY.  227 

meetings  at  every  important  town,  and  everywhere 
quickening  the  church  to  effort.  The  latter  part  of 
April  they  started  from  St.  Louis  on  horseback  for  the 
place  appointed  to  meet  the  trading  companies,  and 
thence  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  three  thousand  miles 
away  from  the  abodes  of  civilization." 

The  financial  response  to  this  appeal  was  very 
prompt  and  general.  Societies  and  individual 
members  of  other  churches,  as  well  as  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  hurried  on  their  contribu- 
tions. Here  is  a  specimen  of  these  outside  con- 
tributions :  — 

«  Rev.  Wilbur  Fisk,  D.  D.  : 

•'  Sir,  —  I  was  interested  in  the  account  recently  given 
in  some  of  the  public  journals  of  the  solicitude  of  the 
Flathead  Indians  to  know  the  true  God,  and  how  to 
worsliip  him. 

"The  appeal  made  by  you  in  their  behalf  derived 
weight  from  the  assurance  given  by  you  that,  if  you 
were  younger,  you  would  yourself  carry  the  gospel  to 
them.  While  I  rejoice  that  you  have  taken  up  the  sub- 
ject with  so  much  zeal,  I  still  more  rejoice  that  devoted 
men  of  ardent  piety  have  consecrated  themselves  to  this 
holy  employment.  Let  them  endeavor  to  possess  the 
prudence  of  Schwarz,  the  humility  of  Brainard,  the 
learning  of  Martyn,  the  devotedness  of  Fisk,  the  self- 
denial  of  Judson,  the  untiring  ardor  of  Gutzlaff,  and, 
with  the  blessing  of  the  God  of  missions  on  their  labors, 
they  may  soon  hope  to  see  these  children  of  the  forest 
becoming  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Lord  Almighty. 

"  Funds  will  be  required  to  accomplish  your  benev- 
olent undertaking,   and   the   enclosed   SoO   will  not,   I 


228  WILBUR  FISK. 

trust,  be  less  acceptable  from  tbe  circumstance  that  it  is 
presented  by  one  not  of  your  denomination. 

"X.  X. 

"New  London,  July  19." 

So  numerous  were  these  offerinsrs  that  Dr.  Fisk 
was  obh'gecl  to  publish  a  public  request  that  this 
special  mission  might  be  left  to  the  generosity 
of  the  churches  in  New  Haven,  Hartford,  and 
Middletown.i 

Thus  Dr.  risk  had  the  intense  satisfaction  of 
founding  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  useful  of 
modern  missions  by  his  personal  leadership  and 
Christian  courage.  He  kept  himself  acquainted 
with  all  the  details  of  the  growth  of  a  mission  in 
which  he  had  the  double  interest  of  a  founder's 
love,  and  of  watching  the  j)ersonal  success  and 
usefulness  of  missionaries  who  were  "  his  own  sons 
in  the  gospel." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  man  ever 
possessed  so  much  influence  in  the  New  England 
Conference  as  Wilbur  Fisk.  Hence  he  was  the 
adviser  to  whom  aU  looked  on  critical  occasions. 
Timothy  Merritt  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  all 
the  localities  and  distances  involved  in  the  charge 
of  murder  brought  against  the  Rev.  E.  K.  Avery, 
a  member  of  that  body.  But  though  he  was  one 
of  the  wisest,  ablest,  and  noblest  ministers  of  the 
conference,  he  did  not  think  he  had  done  his  duty 

^  For  a  full  account  of  this  sing-ular  Indian  embassy  and  its 
results,  see  Oregon :  The  Struggle  for  Possession.  By  William 
Barrows  (American  Commonwealth  Series). 


MANIFOLD  ACTIVITY.  229 

by  a  brother  minister  under  such  awful  charj^es 
until  he  had  by  private  correspondence  made  Dr. 
Fisk  thoroughly  familiar  with  these  facts.  Dr. 
Fish's  mind  and  pen  gave  shape  to  the  action 
taken  before  that  body  in  that  intricate  and  per- 
plexing case.  Such  influence  quite  as  often 
brought  him  personal  criticism  as  commendation 
from  the  various  parties  interested.  But  all  such 
letters  reveal  the  utmost  confidence  in  his  integ- 
rity. 

In  the  Anti-masonic  excitement  which  followed 
the  tragedy  at  Batavia,  the  intensest  sentiment 
was  gradually  aroused  against  clergymen  in  all 
denominations  who  were  Masons.  Many  excellent 
people  would  not  hear  Masons  preach  or  pray. 
Here  and  there  a  man  of  great  force  of  character, 
or  remarkable  originality,  stood  out,  bold  and 
defiant,  against  this  storm  of  obloquy  and  distrust. 
Father  Taylor  never  bent  for  an  hour  to  these 
blinding  and  perverting  influences.  He  marched 
in  all  Masonic  processions  in  his  fidl  regalia  as 
a  Masonic  chaplain,  and  shot  out  his  irresistible 
arrows  of  wit  upon  all  and  any  who  challenged 
him.  On  one  ceremonial  occasion,  he  was  to  make 
the  public  prayer.  It  was  one  of  his  most  com- 
prehensive prayers.  This  was  one  petition  :  '^  O 
Lord,  we  beseech  thee  to  bless  all  the  enemies  of 
the  noble  and  ancient  order  of  Free  Masons. 
Gracious  Lord,  make  their  hearts  as  soft  as  their 
heads  are." 

Notwithstanding  some  such  examples  of   inde- 


230  WILBUR  FISK. 

penclence,  it  looked  as  though  the  usefulness  of 
many  a  minister  would  be  greatly  imperilled,  if 
not  utterly  destroyed.  Here,  again.  Dr.  Fisk  drew 
up  the  report  which  was  adopted  by  all  parties  as 
an  adjustment  of  these  difficulties.  So  wise  and 
prudent  was  it  that  in  a  few  years  the  agitation 
wholly  vanished. 

He  also  was  the  person  who  represented  the 
New  England  Conference  whenever  its  adminis- 
tration was  challenged.  The  impression  made  by 
Dr.  Fisk  on  the  other  members  of  the  General 
Conferences  of  which  he  was  a  member  is  told  by 
Rev.  George  Peck,  D.  D. :  — 

"When  Dr.  Fisk  took  the  stand,  whether  as  a  preach- 
er, or  as  a  platform  orator,  he  was  always  well-prepared 
and  perfectly  self-possessed.  He  had  a  sufficiency  of 
self-reliance  to  overcome  all  timidity,  yet  his  modesty 
and  delicacy  were  as  evident  as  his  manly  dignity.  He 
usually  conquered  in  debate,  though  he  never  triiunphed 
over  an  adversary.  It  was  so  evident  that  he  contended 
for  truth  not  victory,  and  he  bore  his  success  with  so 
much  meekness  and  grace,  that  his  opponents  were 
saved  much  of  the  mortification  of  defeat.  When  he 
assailed  the  vice  of  intemperance,  he  conciliated  even 
the  rum-drinker  and  the  rum  seller  by  contrasting  the 
right  and  the  wrong  so  strikingly  that  both  avarice  and 
appetite  were  struck  dumb.  He  would  sometimes  plant 
his  batteries  on  some  such  generalization  as  this  :  '  To 
him  that  knoweth  to  do  good  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it 
is  sin.'  He  preached  a  most  effective  sermon  on  this 
text,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  during  the  session  of 


MANIFOLD  ACTIVITY.  231 

the  General  Conference  in  1832,  in  which  he  demon- 
strated, in  a  most  triiunpliant  manner,  the  moral  obliga- 
tion to  help  forward  the  great  temperance  movement 
by  all  proper  means.  The  justice  and  truth  of  his 
statements,  in  connection  with  his  peculiarly  felicitous 
manner,  left  upon  all  minds  the  impression  of  fitness ; 
and  the  intelligent  hearer  spontaneously  exclaimed, 
'  How  forcible  are  right  words ! '  " 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE   PREACHER. 

Dr.  Whedon  gives  this  account  of  the  preach- 
ing of  Dr.  Fisk :  — 

"  The  simplicity  we  have  mentioned  was  the  basis  of 
his  manners  as  a  gentleman.  If  conversation  he  an  art 
susceptible,  as  some  think,  of  systematic  and  improving 
cultivation,  the  unstudied  spontaneity  of  Dr.  Fisk's  col- 
loquial remarks  betrayed  very  little  indeed  of  such  delib- 
erate elaboration.  Unprepared  appropriateness  was  its 
prevailing  characteristic.  He  affected  no  polished  points, 
no  quick-sprung  antitheses.  There  were  no  previously 
adjusted  plans,  no  conversational  ambushes,  no  prepared 
accidents,  no  premeditated  impromptus.  You  carried 
from  his  intercourse  an  impress  of  interest,  as  if  you 
had  experienced  a  sense  of  diffusive  fascination  ;  but  re- 
tained no  one  outstanding  gem  of  surpassing  brilliancy, 
flinging  a  shade  over  the  surrounding  lustre,  and  itself 
endowed  with  diamond  indestructlbleness.  He  seldom 
flung  out  the  elastic  jen  d" esprit,  to  be  rebounded  around 
the  circle,  reverberated  into  publicity,  and  stereotyped 
into  a  proverb.  He  was  not  of  the  Johnsonian  school, 
a  professed  converser,  nor  needed  to  borrow  from  the 
Boswell  school  a  colloquial  reporter.  He  never  found 
it  necessary  to  assert  his  social  dignity  by  arrogating 
the  whole  conversation ;  he  dealt  forth  no  elbow-chair 


THE  PREACHER.  233 

orations,  as  if  the  sound  of  his  own  voice  were  the  sweet- 
est music  to  his  ear,  transforming  the  parlor  into  a  lec- 
ture-room, the  social  circle  into  auditory,  and  the  dia- 
logue into  soliloquy.  Bland,  cordial,  animate,  recollected, 
and  dignified  ;  flexible  to  all  the  varieties  of  rank  and 
character  ;  symi^athizing  with  the  humblest  and  courteous 
to  the  dignitary  ;  dextrous  in  every  difficulty,  felicitous 
in  every  exigency,  and  self-possessed  in  every  surprise, 
—  he  diffused  around  his  daily  presence  and  converse 
the  atmosphere  of  his  own  pure,  gentle,  and  high-toned 
sjiirit ;  ever  ready  with  the  judicious  counsel,  the  lucid 
illustration,  or  the  even-handed  discussion  ;  now  bright- 
ening up  the  scene  with  a  cheery  yet  chastened  humor ; 
now  sobering  it  with  recollective  monition,  checking  the 
rising  impropriety  by  the  powers  of  severely  silent  re- 
buke, or,  when  it  v/ould  surge  up  in  rebellion,  capable  of 
rising  into  a  subduing  mastery  over  the  rampant  ele- 
ments :  these  are  the  traits  which,  it  is  conceived,  should 
all  the  memories  qualified  by  near  acquaintance  to  deline- 
ate the  original,  would  be  found  visible  in  every  picture. 
"  From  the  fact  that  Dr.  Fisk  did  not  indulge  in  col- 
loquial harangue,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that,  in  assum- 
ing the  public  speaker,  the  transition  was  a  transforma- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  the  man  in  public  was  just  the 
unchanged  man  of  private  life,  in  both  states  approjjri- 
ate  to  the  situation.  As  a  public  speaker,  his  style  was 
the  natural  and  spontaneous  product  of  his  personal 
qualities,  flowing  out  of  his  true  individuality  and  not 
artificially  assumed  upon  it.  A  more  extended  audience 
required  of  course  a  more  elevated  elocution,  a  wider 
range  of  thought,  and  a  loftier  personal  bearing.  He 
usually  began  wilh  a  clear  enunciation  of  his  starting- 
points  ;  then  ranged  through  a  train  of  consecutive  logic, 


234  WILBUR  FISK. 

so  accurate  as  generally  to  evince  its  own  justice,  yet  so 
relieved  by  fancy,  or  illustrated  by  analogies,  or  impreg- 
nated w\i\\  a  feeling  glow,  as  to  secure  attention ;  and  as 
he  passed  through  the  process,  gathering  fervor  from  its 
rapidity  and  gathering  intenser  rapidity  from  its  fervor, 
he  generally  rose  to  flights  of  surpassing  grandeur,  or 
wound  off  with  periods  of  tluilling  appeal.  And  this 
style  of  thought  was  accompanied  with  its  corresponding 
appropriate  delivery.  First,  rising  with  a  simple,  col- 
lected, saint-like  presence  (preceded,  however,  usually  by 
the  almost  convulsive  cough,  which  commonly  awakened 
for  the  moment  a  painful  sympathy  from  the  unaccus- 
tomed part  of  the  audience),  his  manner  was  for  the 
time  easy  and  equable  ;  but  as  he  warmed  with  his  sub- 
ject, the  feeling  flowed  out  in  the  natural  gesture,  the 
eye  lighted  up  with  new  animation,  the  countenance 
beamed  with  a  glowing  expression,  the  frame  dilated 
into  a  loftier  bearing,  and  the  whole  man  impregnate 
and  luminous  with  the  subject. 

"The  description  which  we  have  here  given  is  of 
course  more  particularly  true  to  the  successful  order  of 
Dr.  Fisk's  pulpit  oratory.  In  the  efforts  of  his  latter 
days,  especially  those  exhibited  in  the  chapel  of  the 
University,  either  from  the  state  of  his  heallh  or  from 
views  of  practical  usefulness,  he  seemed  to  adopt  a  style 
of  less  sustained  and  more  colloquial  character.  With 
his  pupils  and  associate  officers,  as  in  a  family  coterie, 
he  seemed  to  indulge  the  privilege  of  a  more  easy  and 
familiar  style,  less  prepared  and  elaborate  than  his  pub- 
lic efforts,  following  very  much  the  incidentally  sug- 
gested trains  and  transitions  that  seemed  to  arise  in  his 
mind.  These  efforts  were  not  particularly  calculated  for 
sermonizing  models  ;    they,   of  course,  presented  occa- 


THE  PREACHER.  235 

sional  crudenesses  of  thouj^ht  and  improprieties  of  ex- 
pression ;  they  were  somewhat  irregular  in  their  arrange- 
ment, and  disproportionate  and  digressive  in  form  :  but 
they  possessed  high  interest  as  the  apparently  spontane- 
ous discoursings  of  a  superior  mind  ;  and  they  abounded 
with  many  a  lesson  of  divine  wisdom,  many  a  passage  of 
impassioned  eloquence. 

"  The  common-sense  substratum  which  we  have   as- 
signed as  the  basis  of  Dr.  P'isk's  character  may  be  pro- 
nounced preeminently  the  basis  of  his  mode  of  thought 
as  an  orator.   A  prominent  fault,  we  have  often  thought, 
of  pulpit  ministry  is,  that  its  modes  of  reasoning  and 
expression  are  too  professional,   too  unnatural.     They 
are  the  thinking   of   the   trained  theologian,  with   his 
own    vocabulary,  his    own    logic ;    indulging  which    all 
the  more  freely  because  he  feels  sure  of  his  audience, 
and  secure  from  audible  contradiction,  he   goes   along 
disregarding  the  unspoken  difficulties,  and  exulting  in 
conventional  demonstrations,  which  prove  just  nothing 
to  the   ordinary  thinker.     Dr.  Fisk  was   the  common- 
sense  preacher.    He  was  at  bottom  —  and  without  educa- 
tion would  have  been  —  a  direct,  practical,  clear-headed, 
common-sense  man  ;  and  with  such  minds,  comprehend- 
ing the  world's  great  average,  he  had  a  natural  power 
of  sympathy  and   self  -  identification.      This  quality  — 
his  perfect  self-adaptation  to  the  popular  mind  —  consti- 
tuted one  main  secret  of  his  great  power  over  it.     He 
knew  that  in  every  breast  there  are  the  germs  of  good 
sense  ;  that  there  are  elementary  starting-points,  —  the 
mental  sprouts  of  all   sound    thought.     Into    these  he 
transfused  his  own  soul ;  he  impregnated  the  germ  with 
the  quickening  spirit;  he  brought  it  out  into  new  yet 
natural   developments,   and    he  elevated    it    into   lofty 


286  WILBUR  FISK. 

and  glorious  expansions.  And  so  natural  and  sponta- 
neous was  the  process,  that  the  hearer  thought  the  rea- 
sonings pretty  much  his  own.  They  were  lus  own  sort 
of  thoughts  ;  at  any  rate,  lie  was  sure  they  were  just 
what  he  could  and  should  have  thought ;  only  it  was 
thinking  a  little  harder,  a  little  farther,  a  little  more 
clearly,  and  a  great  deal  more  nobly.  And  thus  the 
woihlly  and  the  shrewd  were  forced  to  feel  the  grapple 
of  his  mind,  while  they  appreciated  the  purity  of  his 
character,  and  to  doubt  whether,  after  all,  there  was  not 
some  common  sense  in  theology  and  religion  somewhere 
else  than  in  books.  Through  his  life  he  thus  drew  un- 
der his  moral  influence  secular  men  of  thought  and  char- 
acter, and  in  his  life  presented  to  them  a  not  ineffective 
lesson.  To  one  of  these  he  exclaimed,  '  You  behold  me, 
sir,  hovering  between  two  worlds  !  '  '  And  fit  for  either,' 
was  the  beautiful  reply. 

"  It  was  uncongenial  with  the  manly  simplicity  of  Dr. 
Fisk's  mind  carefully  to  hoard  his  oratorical  reputation. 
The  arts  of  rhetorical  keeping  he  knew  not.  When 
once  advised,  upon  the  assumption  of  the  college  presi- 
dency, to  preach  seldom,  and  reserve  himself  only  for 
great  occasional  displays,  he  shrunk  at  the  thought.  He 
had  no  fear,  by  constant  pouring  forth,  to  exhaust  the 
fountain  ;  and  he  was  not  too  proud  to  waste  the  most 
masterly  exertions  of  his  mind  upon  the  smallest  and 
humblest  audience.  Strains  of  oratory,  that  might  richly 
have  filled  the  city  cathedral,  were  freely  lavished  ujjon 
the  country  school-house  !  It  was  not  his  object  to  make 
a  grand  oration,  but  to  gain  a  more  ultimate  and  business 
purpose.  He  aimed  to  be  the  faithful  Christian  minister, 
not  the  splendid  pnlpit-orator.  He  forgot  not  his  subject 
in  himself  ;  he  forgot  himself  in  his  subject.    And  when 


THE  PREACHER.  237 

he  came  forth  to  his  ministerial  performance,  it  was  not 
after  a  period  of  solicitous,  intensive,  verbal,  memorlter 
premeditation.  He  did  not,  then,  involve  his  plain 
thouglits  in  folds  of  wordy  gorgeousness  ;  nor  did  he 
invest  them  with  that  intensive  glare  of  diction  which, 
however  entrancing  to  the  fancy,  renders  the  thought  it- 
self too  dazzlingly  painful  to  the  mental  gaze  to  be  intel- 
ligible to  the  mental  perception,  !No  :  his  oratory  was 
the  natural  and  animate  glow  of  the  mind,  effervescing 
with  the  subject ;  or  rather,  it  was  the  spontaneous  effer- 
vescence of  the  min  1  itself.  For  the  subject  that  ani- 
mated his  periods  animated  his  soul.  In  the  days  of 
what  was  his  health,  but  what  to  others  would  have  been 
disease,  he  esteemed  it  as  his  high  delight  to  preach  with 
unremitting  frequency;  when  the  sympathy  of  all  oth- 
ers for  his  illness  would  have  spared  his  service,  he 
could  not  spare  himself.  So  long  as  he  could  stand  in 
the  pulpit,  he  proclaimed  the  mission  of  iiis  Master ;  and 
when  he  could  no  longer  stand  up  to  proclaim  it,  he  pro- 
claimed it  still.  It  were  a  picture  worthy  a  nobler  hand 
than  mine  to  portray  this  minister  of  Christ,  as  his 
friends  watched  his  successive  yieldings  to  the  attacks 
of  the  destroyer  ;  a  feeble  yet  resolute  figure,  visited  by 
successive  shocks  of  disease,  and  losing  at  each  shock 
that  which  he  did  not  recover  ;  preaching  so  long  as  he 
could  stand  in  the  desk  ;  when  he  was  never  again  to 
stand  up  in  tliat  desk,  preaching  from  his  seat,  —  in  his 
sick  and  dying  chamber  preaching,  it  was  said,  as  he 
never  preached  before  ;  so  long  as  the  crumbling  ele- 
ments of  his  body  could  frame  a  voice,  sending  forth  the 
dying  articulations  of  his  faithful  ministry. 

"  There  was  a  kind  of  public  exercise  which  we  must 
not  omit  to  mention,    which,  the  farthest  possible  re- 


238  WILBUR  FISK. 

moved  from  artificial  rhetoric,  presented,  as  Dr.  Fisk 
performed  it,  a  specimen  of  eloquence  most  genuine  and 
pure :  we  mean  the  eloquence  of  prayer.  If  eloquence 
be  the  natural  utterance  of  the  simplest  and  most  spon- 
taneous breathing  of  the  highest  and  holiest  sentiments 
with  which  our  nature  is  susceptible  of  being  inspired, 
then  were  Dr.  Fisk's  addresses  to  the  Deity  specimens 
of  the  truest  eloquence.  Devoid  of  artificial  pomp,  and 
devoid  of  affectation,  and  especially  devoid  of  that  most 
subtile  of  all  affectation,  the  affectation  of  simplicity, 
they  possessed  a  real  simplicity,  variety,  and  pertinency 
which  we  have  never  seen  equaled.  They  were  simple, 
for  they  expressed  in  direct  and  unambitious  words  the 
natural  mind  of  the  speaker  ;  they  were  varied,  for  he 
had  no  stereotyped  phrases,  and  the  persons  most  famil- 
iar with  his  daily  devotions  remember  not  his  ever  twice 
using  the  same  form  of  expression  ;  they  were  pertinent, 
suiting  with  happy  and  instantaneous  yet  dignified  ap- 
plicableness  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  specific  circum- 
stances and  characters.  Persons  of  intellectual  character 
of  other  denominations,  or  of  worldly  views,  have  ex- 
pressed their  surprise  and  pleasure  at  the  unstudied,  ex- 
tempore beauty  of  his  occasional,  instantaneous  prayers. 
Among  the  most  hallowed  recollections  of  our  departed 
friend  are  the  soft  and  soothing  tones  of  his  voice,  as 
they  melted  along  the  current  of  fervid  devotion  with 
which  he  loved,  at  the  close  of  an  evening  social  as- 
semblage, to  consecrate  the  hour  of  interview." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

EUROPEAN   TRAVEL. 

In  the  year  1834  Dr.  Fisk  laid  a  severe  strain 
upon  his  physical  strength  by  his  unwearied  labors 
in  that  season  of  religious  revival  which  has  been 
already  described.  Never  after  that  did  his  gen- 
eral health  appear  so  good  as  it  had  usually  been 
up  to  that  date.  If  he  wrote  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  day,  after  he  had  gone  through  the  usual  rou- 
tine of  labor,  his  handwriting  was  a]3t  to  be  poor 
and  indistinct,  so  that  he  took  up  the  habit  of 
writino-  as  much  as  he  could  in  the  morning  hours. 
What  veiled  from  many  eyes  the  serious  condition 
of  his  health  was  the  amount  and  variety  of  the 
work  he  contrived  to  pei'form,  and  the  sweet  and 
sunny  disposition  which  was  as  fully  manifest  in 
his  worst  seasons  as  in  his  most  vigorous  health. 
Such  unvaried  cheerfulness  and  unabated  hope- 
fulness kept  many  of  his  friends  from  any  keen 
sense  of  his  danger. 

His  best  medical  advisers,  and  especially  his 
most  trusted  adviser,  Dr.  Sewall,  of  Washington, 
D.  C,  advised  him  to  try  the  effect  of  a  sea  voyage 
and  the  European  tour.  But  Dr.  Sewall  urged 
him  to  make  everything  else  subservient  to  the 


240  WILBUR  FI8K. 

recovery  of  his  health,  and  to  take  Mrs.  Fisk  with 
him.  Then  large  additions  to  the  philosophical 
and  chemical  apparatus  would  be  requisite  to  put 
Wesleyan  University  in  the  front  rank  of  New 
England  colleges  in  its  equipment  for  teaching  nat- 
ural science.  Books,  also,  were  needed  in  various 
departments,  to  give  the  students  and  instructors 
the  best  facilities  for  doing  good  work. 

Hence  the  Joint  Board  of  Wesleyan  University 
authorized  Dr.  Fisk  to  visit  Europe,  to  afford  him 
a  long  respite  from  care  and  duty,  in  order  that  he 
might  regain  his  usual  health,  and  that  he  might 
make  purchases  of  books  and  apparatiis  while 
abroad.  Even  before  his  departure  he  was  taken 
ill,  and  seemed  far  advanced  in  pulmonary  disease. 
But  he  rallied  quickly  from  his  worst  symptoms, 
and  set  about  some  of  his  most  urgent  business 
while  unable  to  be  about  the  house  more  than  a 
part  of  the  time. 

By  these  means  his  departure  was  delayed  until 
September  8,  1835.  Besides  Mrs.  Fisk  he  had  as 
a  traveling  companion  Mr.  Harvey  B.  Lane,  after- 
wards for  more  than  twenty  years  a  Professor  of 
Mathematics  or  Greek  in  Wesleyan  University. 
He  was  fui-nished  with  a  good  store  of  letters  of 
introduction  to  such  persons  as  could  be  helpful  to 
him  in  his  official  business.  He  was  requested  by 
various  missionary  societies  to  inspect  and  report 
concerning  the  operations  of  missionary  societies 
in  Europe.  He  was  also  invited  to  represent  the 
American  Bible  Society  at  certain  meetings  to  be 


EUROPEAN   TRAVEL.  241 

held  while  Dr.  Fislc  would  be  in  Europe.  The 
General  Conference  of  1836  requested  Dr.  Fisk  to 
represent  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  the 
ensuinjr  meetino-  of  the  British  Conference. 

It  would  be  a  long  and  largely  unprofitable  task 
to  follow  these  travelers  through  their  protracted 
wanderings  in  Europe,  for  not  only  does  Dr.  Hol- 
dieh  give  a  full  account  of  them,  but  Dr.  Fisk 
himself  published  at  the  press  of  the  Harpers  a 
volume  of  some  688  pages  covering  the  whole 
range  of  this  journey.  The  volume  evidently  ap- 
pealed to  a  wide  circle  of  readers,  since  $2,700  was 
paid  over  to  Dr.  Fisk  as  the  author's  honorarium. 
Here  this  massive  volume  will  be  used  simply  to 
cast  lioht  on  the  character  of  its  author.  A  trav- 
eler  who  records  a  long  series  of  observations  on 
foreign  countries  is  pretty  sure  to  throw  not  a 
little  light  on  himself,  whether  he  does  upon  the 
countries  visited  or  not. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  criticise  the 
somewhat  narrow  and  illiberal  views  taken  by  Dr. 
Fisk,  in  his  introductory  address  at  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity, of  the  relation  of  the  fine  arts  to  educa- 
tion. This  Euroj)ean  journey  corrected  these  ideas 
with  respect  to  music,  architecture,  and  painting, 
though  the  masterpieces  of  sculpture  left  him  cold. 
We  have  space  only  to  insei't  his  account  of  the 
effect  of  Italian  music  upon  his  mind :  — 


242  WILBUR  FJSK. 

"  TENEBR^    A2^D    MISERERE. 

"  On  Wednesday,  p.  M.,  there  was  the  finest  music  by 
the  pope's  choir  that  I  ever  heard.  The  function  is 
called  Tenebrce,  or  darkness,  and  seems  to  be  designed 
to  commemorate  the  darkness  and  gloom  of  the  church 
at  the  hour  of  betrayal,  or  perhaps  the  scene  in  the 
garden.  The  origin  and  design  of  this  performance, 
however,  seem  not  to  be  fully  settled  by  the  Catholics 
themselves,  nor  is  it  of  any  gi'eat  consequence  to  deter- 
mine it.  It  is  enough  for  me  that  it  was,  on  the  whole, 
one  of  the  most  interesting  occasions  I  have  enjoyed  at 
Rome.  The  pope  attends  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  and 
thither,  of  course,  the  multitude  resorted ;  but  as  there 
was  to  be  the  same  music  at  St.  Peter's,  we  proposed 
hearing  it  there,  rather  than  endure  the  crowd  at  the 
chapel.  The  exercise  was  long,  and  consisted,  in  the 
fore  part,  of  lessons  sung  and  chanted  from  the  Psalms, 
the  Lamentations,  and  from  that  part  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  describing  the  institution  of  the  sacra- 
ment. The  whole  was  interspersed  with  antiphonies, 
and  all  performed  with  admirable  skill.  Indeed,  it  is 
said  that  none  but  those  trained  in  this  school  can  per- 
form this  music.  The  French,  when  they  were  in 
power  here,  carried  this  music  to  France  ;  but  it  availed 
them  not,  for  none  of  their  performers  could  sing  it. 
But  this  choir  perform  it  to  imiversal  admiration.  The 
great  concentration  of  excellence,  however,  and  of 
course  of  interest,  is  in  the  closing  piece,  called  the 
Miserere,  which  is  the  51st  Psalm  set  to  music  by 
Allegri.  It  has  its  name  from  the  first  word  in  the 
Psalm,  which  commences  in  Latin,  Miserere  mei,  deus. 
All  who  have  read  this  Psalm  have  noticed  what  hum- 


EUROPEAN  TRAVEL.  243 

ble  confession,  what  deep  contrition,  run  through  the 
whole  of  this  beautiful  composition.  But  what  the 
psalmist  has  expressed  so  inimitably  in  words,  seems,  if 
possible,  to  be  still  more  forcibly  expressed  in  sounds  ; 
at  least,  putting  the  two  together,  they  were  overwhelm- 
ing. Such  wailing,  such  lamentation  and  woe,  such 
tender,  melting,  agonizing  strains  of  penitential  grief 
and  contrition  !  They  came  over  my  soul  like  a  dissolv- 
ing charm,  melting  my  heart,  and  opening  the  very 
fountains  of  grief.  Every  emotion  of  my  heart  chimed 
in  with  the  sentiments  and  the  music,  and  I  felt  myself 
entirely  carried  away  and  transported  by  the  inspira- 
tions of  the  occasion.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  there 
were  no  females  in  the  choir,  and  yet  there  were  some 
of  the  finest  treble  voices  I  ever  heard.  I  have  heard 
before  a  counterfeit  treble  from  a  man,  but  it  was  not 
natural ;  here,  however,  it  was  the  most  perfect,  and 
the  strains  fell  in,  one  after  another,  from  the  finest  fal- 
setto to  the  gravest  bass,  and  all  so  skillfully  arranged 
and  modified  as  to  produce  but  one  effect ;  it  was  like 
a  multitude  of  old  men  and  maidens,  young  men  and 
children,  pouring  forth  their  united,  concordant  strains 
of  chastened  grief  in  all  the  bitterness  and  reverence  of 
supplication  and  adoring  penitence. 

"As  usual,  in  all  cases  of  Catholic  worship,  numerous 
candles  were  burning,  but  they  were  extinguished  one 
after  another,  until  only  one  was  left,  and  that  was  par- 
tially concealed  behind  the  altar.  Of  the  meaning  of 
this  there  is  not  an  agreement :  some  say  it  is  the  grad- 
ual extinction  of  the  prophetic  lights  before  the  coming 
of  Christ  ;  others  say  it  is  designed  to  represent  the 
fact  that,  when  Christ  was  apprehended,  all  his  disci- 
ples forsook  him  and  fled.     The  concealing  of  the  only 


244  WILBUR  FISK. 

remaining  light  represents   Christ  in   the  tomb,  whose 
light  was  suspended  but  not  extinguished." 

How  corrupt  the  papal  church  was,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  Dr.  Fisk,  appears  from  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Bunting,  of  London,  dated  February  12, 1836  :  — 

"  Next  to  the  *  mystery  of  godliness,'  the  '  mystery 
of  iniquity '  is  most  marvelous !  Whence  had  Satan 
such  wisdom  ?  Whence  had  iniquity  such  venom  ?  How 
is  it  possible  that  all  the  combined  cunning  and  sin  of 
earth  and  hell  could  have  succeeded,  not  merely  in 
measurably  corrupting  the  gospel,  but  in  filling  the  very 
channels  of  salvation  with  the  waters  of  death  ?  " 

With  this  striking  statement  of  the  fallen  con- 
dition of  the  Roman  Church,  everything  which 
Dr.  Fisk  says  about  the  religious  condition  of  the 
various  Catholic  countries  visited  by  him  coin- 
cides. He  saw  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  plant 
new  churches,  Methodist  churches  if  possible,  but 
Protestant  churches  anyhow,  and  commit  to  them 
the  immense  but  disheartening  mission  of  trans- 
forming the  unbelieving  world  and  a  corrupted 
church.  This  is  one  of  the  points  where  Dr. 
Fisk  seems  to  have  accej)ted  without  reserve  the 
opinions  of  the  English  and  Protestant  mission- 
aries whom  he  met  at  various  points  in  Europe. 
As  he  understood  neither  French  nor  Italian,  he 
was  not  able,  by  hearing  with  his  own  ears  nor  by 
reading  with  his  own  eyes,  to  learn  what  was  actu- 
ally going  on  in  the  society  about  him.  Had  he 
been  able  to  do  this,  he  would,  with  his  impartial 


EUROPEAN  TRAVEL.  245 

habit  of  observation  and  judgment,  have  gathered 
many  signs  which  might  justify  the  faith  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  is  possibly  nowhere  so 
utterly  corrupt  and  fallen  away  from  God  as  to 
make  her  incapable  of  revival  and  renovation. 
For  the  Catholic  Church  in  France  was  already 
far  advanced  on  that  movement  of  quickening 
through  which  she  has  had  so  great  and  honorable 
a  share  in  what  Guizot,  in  liis  "  Meditations  on  the 
Actual  State  of  Christendom,"  describes  as  "  The 
Awakening  of  Christianity  in  France  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Century."  Here  Guizot  is  able  to  speak 
with  a  fullness  of  detail,  and  with  the  authority  of 
an  eye-witness  of,  and  personal  participant  in,  this 
great  awakening.  Had  Dr.  Fisk  been  fully  cog- 
nizant of  the  condition  of  Catholic  France  in  his 
day,  not  only  would  his  sojourn  in  France  have 
been  much  more  cheerful  and  healthful  than  it 
was,  but  he  might  have  seen,  in  the  revived  Chris- 
tianity of  Catholic  France,  good  reasons  for  the 
hope  that  the  revival  would  spread  until  many  an- 
other nation  of  the  Catholic  world  would  yet  come 
under  the  quickening  breath  of  spiritual  transfor- 
mation, and  so  the  hope  arise  that  all  Christen- 
dom should  yet  be  brought  back  to  newness  of 
life.  Here  and  there  in  Dr.  Fisk's  "  Travels " 
come  misleading  passages  like  this :  — 

"  And  here  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  fasts  and 
penances  of  the  papists  are  admirably  contrived  for 
sensual  enjoyment.  No  man  who  wished  to  enjoy  the 
most  sensual  gratification  possible  in  this  life  would,  if 


246  WILBUR  FISK. 

he  adapted  the  end  to  the  means,  pamper  the  senses  to 
the  full  continually.  He  would  have  his  changes  and  re- 
straints at  intervals,  by  which  he  would  court  the  ap- 
petite, and  keep  alive  and  invigorate  his  desire  and  zest 
for  pleasure.  It  is  thus  artfully  that  Romanism  has  min- 
gled her  cup,  and  meted  out  her  indulgences  and  pro- 
hibitions ;  and  when  to  this  are  joined  her  ecclesiastical 
pageantry  and  splendid  ritual,  a  system  of  religion  is 
formed  the  best  possible  to  gratify  the  pleasure-seeking 
man  of  the  world.  In  short,  Romanism  is  practically 
—  I  will  not  say  a  religion  merely,  but  emphatically  — 
the  religion  of  the  natural  heart." 

It  is  such  passages  as  these  that  mar  our  pleas- 
ure in  reading  Dr.  Fisk's  "  Travels."  It  is  true 
that,  with  his  ignorance  of  the  Italian  and  French 
languages,  he  was  of  necessity  left  to  draw  his  in- 
formation from  English  missionaries  and  other 
English-speaking  persons  whom  he  encovmtered  in 
Europe.  Nor  was  this  a  venial  error  merely,  but 
one  of  great  practical  importance  to  himself  and 
the  world  ;  since  all  the  advice  he  gave  to  the  va- 
rious missionary  and  other  societies  which  he  rep- 
resented was  xdtiated  throughout  by  this  error  of 
vision.  He  did  it  ignorantly,  but  the  very  enor- 
mity of  such  conclusions  should  have  warned  him  of 
his  danger.  At  that  day,  Dr.  Fisk  represented  the 
educated  mind  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  a  greater  degree  than  any  one  man  has  done 
since,  and  the  very  highest  function  of  education 
should  be  to  broaden  the  intellectual  sympathies  of 
a  man.     Of  course  Dr.  Fisk  had  been  too  busy  to 


EUROPEAN    TRAVEL.  24il 

learn  modern  languages  and  literatures,  so  that  he 
lies  under  no  blame  on  that  score  ;  but  since  he 
knew  the  traditional  narrowness  of  some  of  those 
whose  counsel  was  to  guide  him  so  absolutely,  it 
woidd  have  been  weU,  when  the  policy  of  great 
Christian  societies  was  to  be  shaped,  to  have  spo- 
ken with  more  modesty,  and  with  a  clearer  per- 
ception of  the  doubtful  elements  in  his  knowledge. 
The  policy  of  some  of  the  societies  he  advised  has 
never  whoUy  escaped  from  these  narrow  views  for 
which  Dr.  Fisk  was  partly  responsible. 

Of  Dr.  Fisk's  appearance  before  the  British 
Conference,  as  delegate  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  Dr.  Holdich  says  :  — 

"  On  the  19th  of  July,  1836,  Dr.  Fisk  left  London, 
with  Mrs.  Fisk,  for  Birmingham,  the  seat  of  the  con- 
ference.    During  this  journey,  a  disagreeable  mcident 
convinced  him  that  his  sojourn  in  England  was  destined 
to  be  disturbed  by  unkind  offices  growing  out  of  a  mis- 
apprehension of  his  views  on  the  slavery  question.     A 
stranger  informed  him,  while  on  the  road,  of  a  public 
meeting  held  the  night  before  in  Birmingham,  at  which 
it  was   announced   to  the  audience   that   '  a  Methodist 
hlshop  was  expected  at  Birmingham  in  a  few  days,  as 
a  delegate  to  the  Wesleyan  Conference  ;   that  he  was 
sent  by  a  pro-slavery  party  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  was  himself  an  advocate  of  slavery  ;  and  as 
the  informant  understood  it,  and  as  one  of  the  journals 
afterward  reported,  it  was  also  added  that  this  bishop 
was  a  slave-holder.    Tlie  name  of  the  gentleman  was 
called  for  by  some  in  the  assembly,  that  he  might  be 
known  and  treated  accordingly  when  he  shoidd  arrive.' 


248  WILBUR  FISK. 

'  Bishop  Fisk  ! '  was  the  rei:>ly.  The  stranger  also  '  inti- 
mated that  it  would  be  very  unpleasant,  if  not  unsafe, 
for  the  American  bishop  to  show  himself  in  Birming- 
ham, as  he  would  meet  with  rough  treatment.'  Dr.  Fisk 
remarked  that  he  'did  not  claim  to  be  a  bishop  (be- 
ing only  bishop-elect,  and  unordained)  ;  yet  as  he  was 
the  delegate  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  the 
Wesleyan  Conference  about  to  be  held  at  Birmingham, 
he  supposed  he  must  be  the  person  alluded  to  ;  that  he 
should  not  take  any  pains  to  hide  himself  from  the  good 
people  of  Birmingham,  and,  therefore  they  should  have 
fuU  opportunity  of  doing  aU  their  pleasure  in  the 
case.'  .  .  . 

"  But  all  this  was  by  no  means  so  trying  to  his  feelings 
as  a  memorial  sent  by  some  members  of  some  American 
conferences  to  the  British  Conference  on  this  painful 
subject.  It  was  signed  by  eighty-five  names.  This  doc- 
ument, though,  as  is  claimed  by  the  signers,  it  was  not 
so  intended,  was  yet  precisely  adapted  to  create  a  preju- 
dice against  Dr.  Fisk,  and  prevent  his  cordial  reception 
by  his  brethren  and  the  British  public.  He  felt  this 
the  more  keenly  because  many  of  the  signers  were  those 
with  whom  he  had  long  been  on  the  most  intimate  terms, 
and  some  of  whom  he  had  laid  under  particular  obliga- 
tions. Perhaps,  in  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  nothing 
ever  affected  him  so  painfully  as  this  transaction.  Yet, 
while  under  the  lash  of  lacerated  feeling,  his  prayer  was, 
'  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.' 

"  But,  whatever  influence  this  document  may  have 
had  with  individuals,  the  conference  was  too  high-minded 
and  honorable  a  body  to  listen  to  or  entertain  it ;  they 
decided  that  it  would  be  improper  for  them  officially  to 
receive  communications  from  single  conferences  or  por- 


EUROPEAN  TRAVEL.  249 

tions  of  conferences  while  in  regular  correspondence 
with  the  whole  body.  The  document,  therefore,  was  not 
allowed  to  be  read.  This  decision  was  made  spontane- 
ously, when  Dr.  Fisk  was  absent,  to  whom  afterward 
the  paper  was  handed  by  the  ])resident. 

"  A  touching  proof  of  Christian  virtue  follows.  On 
the  day  of  this  painful  transaction,  the  family  whose 
hospitality  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fisk  enjoyed  had  invited  com- 
pany to  dinner.  Dr.  Bunting  was  among  the  guests. 
With  his  usual  cheerfulness  and  self-command,  Dr.  P""isk 
appeared  in  the  drawing-room  and  at  the  table.  Dr. 
Buntincf  mentioned  the  oifensive  document,  and  ex- 
pressed  his  disapprobation  of  the  measure.  '  Dr.  Fisk,' 
says  Mrs.  Fisk,  '  with  his  peculiar  sweetness  replied  : 
'  I  know  those  bretlu-en,  doctor.  They  are  good  men. 
They  have  doubtless  meant  well,  though  their  zeal  for 
the  slave  seems,  with  them,  to  be  the  sundering  of  all 
other  ties,  and  the  all-absorbing  principle  of  goodness.' 
To  the  same  purport  was  his  communication  concerning 
it  in  the  '  Christian  Advocate  ; '  but  that  was  for  the 
public  eye,  and  this  in  pivate  intercourse,  while  the 
wound  in  his  feelings  was  just  inflicted. 

"  Notwithstanding  these  efforts.  Dr.  Fisk  was  re- 
ceived with  very  gratifying  cordiality  and  respect.  For 
this  he  was  no  doubt,  in  part  at  least,  indebted  to  the 
characteristic  magnanimity  of  their  president.  On  his 
introduction  to  the  body  in  his  official  character,  which 
had  taken  place  before  the  arrival  of  the  aforesaid  me- 
morial, in  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  explained  the 
attitude  of  the  American  church  with  reference  to  slav- 
ery, and  explained  its  administration  of  discipline  on 
this  subject.  On  his  conclusion,  the  conference  expressed 
themselves  satisfied,  admitting  that,  so  far  as  ecclesias- 


250  WILBUR  FISK. 

tical  action  was  concerned,  the  Methodist  Church  in 
America  had  done  more  than  the  Wesleyans  in  Eng- 
land, since  the  instructions  given  to  their  missionaries  in 
the  West  Indies  were  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all,  and  not 
intermeddle  with  their  civil  relations.  To  these  views 
Dr.  Bunting  assented  ;  adding,  however,  a  wish  that  the 
General  Conference  of  1836  had  reiterated  its  disappro- 
bation of  the  system  of  slavery,  but  admitted  neverthe- 
less that  it  did  not  become  the  British  '  to  interfere  and 
dictate  in  this  matter,  and  especially  to  send  agents  to 
the  United  States  to  agitate  the  public  mind.'  " 

As  a  preacher  Dr.  Fisk  met  with  an  appreciative 
liearing  whenever  he  was  liimseK,  and  he  was  fully 
himself  whenever  the  ventilation  of  the  buildings  in 
which  he  spoke  was  such  as  to  give  him  that  fresh 
air  which  his  delicate  lungs  demanded  in  order  to 
enable  him  to  speak  with  any  effectiveness.  There 
were  one  or  two  occasions  when  it  was  all  he  could 
do,  with  extreme  exertion,  to  get  through  the  ser- 
mon. But  so  impressive  was  he  in  his  happier 
efforts  that  he  preached  twenty-eight  sermons  dur- 
ing his  stay  in  England,  besides  giving  several 
other  public  addresses.  Among  these  was  a  charge 
delivered  on  the  ordination  of  certain  young  mis- 
sionaries for  the  foreign  service.  The  "  London 
Watchman  "  published  this  in  full,  saying :  "  Both 
from  its  intrinsic  excellence,  and  the  most  impres- 
sive manner  in  which  it  was  delivered,  it  is  likely 
long  to  live  in  the  remembrance  of  those  who  had 
the  pleasure  of  hearing  it." 

By  this  time  Dr.  Fisk  had   completely  accom- 


EUROPEAN   TRAVEL.  251 

plishecl  the  official  purposes  of  his  European  tour. 
The  English  part  of  his  journey,  while  much  the 
pleasantest  for  him  and  the  occasion  of  his  form- 
ing friendships  of  the  tenderest  nature,  was  unfa- 
vorable to  his  health.  The  humidity  of  the  cli- 
mate, the  exertion  of  so  much  public  speaking,  and 
the  demands  of  social  life,  wearied  him  so  much 
that  he  gladly  embarked  at  Liverpool  on  the  ship 
Koscoe,  late  in  October,  for  New  York  and  home. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  EENEWAL  AND  THE  END  OF  LABOR. 

Dr.  Fisk  arrived  in  New  York  November  23, 
1836.  The  next  Sunday  lie  preaclied  to  a  large 
and  delighted  congregation  on  the  felicitous  text, 
"  Thy  statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the  house  of 
my  pilgrimage"  (Ps.  cxix.  54).  On  the  invita- 
tion of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Young 
Men's  Missionary  Society,  he  gave  an  account  of 
his  tour  of  observation  and  study  in  Europe. 
The  delighted  audience  requested  him  to  jDublish 
a  volume  of  travels. 

On  returning  to  Middletown,  Dr.  Eisk  found  a 
hearty  and  universal  welcome.  Despite  his  ab- 
sence, Wesleyan  University  had  gone  on  prosper- 
ing. The  fact  that  he  was  absent  to  add,  by  the 
expenditure  of  |7,000,  to  the  jDhilosophical,  physi- 
cal, and  astronomical  apparatus,  and  to  the  library, 
made  his  absence  less  felt  than  it  woidd  otherwise 
have  been.  Professor  A.  W.  Smith  had  sho^\^l 
himself  a  skillful  and  prudent  administrator  of  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  University  during  the  inter- 
regnum ;  but  it  was  due  only  to  the  tact  and  firm- 
ness of  President  Fisk  that  this  skillful  and  tactful 
navigator  was  at  the  helm.     A  proposal  had  been 


THE  RENEWAL   AND   THE  END   OF  LABOR.    253 

made  to  invite  the  Rev.  Nathan  Bangs,  D.  D.,  to 
a  professorship  in  Wesleyan  University.  Some- 
how Dr.  Bangs  got  the  notion  that  he  was  to  be 
acting  president  whenever  Dr.  Fisk  was  absent 
from  college,  an  offer  which  Dr.  Fisk  had  been 
extremely  careful  not  to  make.  Had  Dr.  Bangs 
been  presiding  officer  during  this  period,  he  would 
doubtless  have  shown  the  same  inefficiency  he  did 
show  when  elected  president  a  few  years  later. 
When  Dr.  Fisk  was  dying,  somebody  asked  him 
who  would  be  the  best  man  to  succeed  him.  He 
responded,  "  Dr.  Olin,"  thus  repeating  his  earlier 
verdict  on  Dr.  Bangs. 

Yet  this  very  success  of  the  youthful  college 
made  the  erection  of  new  buildings  for  their  ac- 
commodation a  necessity.  But  under  the  terrible 
financial  depression  of  those  days,  there  was  only 
one  way  open  for  obtaining  the  money  needed  for 
these  enlargements, — an  appeal  to  the  Connecticut 
legislature.  In  the  fall  of  1838,  Dr.  Fisk  jjrinted 
an  appeal  for  circulation  amongst  the  members  of 
the  legislature,  setting  forth  the  needs  of  Wesleyan 
University,  and  the  strict  justice  and  propriety  of 
state  aid.  This  appeal  is  a  masterly  paper,  setting 
forth  every  argument  that  could  be  urged  with 
propriety,  anticipating  and  skillfidly  exploding 
every  objection  that  could  be  raised.  It  had  the 
rare  merit  in  such  papers  of  not  setting  up  any 
excessive  or  unreal  claim,  but  keeping  to  reasons 
which  appealed  to  every  man's  sense  of  justice. 
This  appeal  was   so  impressive  that  a  gTant   of 


254  WILBUR  FISK. 

$10,000  was  made  by  the  legislature.  Dr.  Charles 
Woodward,  then  a  representative  of  Middletown 
in  the  Assembly,  a  devoted  friend  of  Dr.  Fisk,  was 
very  useful  in  helping  this  bill  through  the  legis- 
lature. Dr.  Fisk  also  wrote  private  and  public  let- 
ters not  a  few,  respecting  the  general  interests  of 
education  or  the  special  needs  of  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity, though  none  of  them  of  such  importance 
as  to  need  further  remark  here.  Busy  as  he  was 
in  all  these  various  ways,  he  set  about  the  work  of 
preparing  his  "  Travels  "  for  the  press.  One  mo- 
tive for  doing  this  was  the  fact  that,  although 
President  Fisk  offei*ed  to  bear  the  whole  expense 
of  his  journey  to  Europe,  the  trustees  generously 
and  wisely  refused  his  offer.  He  then  offered,  if 
they  would  build  a  house  for  the  president,  to  turn 
over  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  his  "  Travels  " 
towards  the  house,  to  remain  without  interest  so 
long  as  he  occupied  the  house,  but  to  pay  six  per 
cent,  interest  in  any  other  case.  In  1838  the 
"  Travels "  went  forth  to  encounter  the  usual 
fortunes  of  such  publications.  It  speedily  ran 
through  seven  editions,  and  eight  thousand  copies 
were  sold.  Thus  Dr.  Fisk  had  the  satisfaction  of 
turning  over  $2,700  towards  the  erection  of  the 
president's  house  on  the  conditions  named. 

In  1838,  Dr.  Fisk  attended  the  New  England 
Conference  for  the  last  time.  It  was  on  many 
accounts  a  painful  and  sad  occasion  for  him  ;  for 
he  was  to  be  brought  to  trial  before  that  body  on 
charges  of  slandering  the  fair  name  and  defaming 


THE  RENEWAL  AND   THE   END   OF  LABOR.    255 

the  honorable  reputation  of  La  Roy  Sunderland. 
The  correspondence  between  Sunderland  and  Fisk 
on  this  painful  subject  exists  in  their  own  hand- 
writing-.    Also,  the  defense  of   Dr.  Fisk  against 
these  charges,  in  his  own  well-known  hand,  exhibits 
the  skill  of  a  legal  expert,  the  nobleness  of  a  great 
character,  and   the   humility  of   a  saint.      There 
was  only  one  point  where  any  doubt  could  arise,  — 
a  private  conversation  between  Fisk  and  Sunder- 
land  was  reported  one  way  by  Fisk,  and  a  very 
different  way  by  Sunderland.     If  the  conference 
believed  Sunderland,  they  would  condemn  Fisk; 
if  they  believed  Fisk,  they  must  condemn  Sunder- 
land.    Under  ordinary  circumstances  a  conference 
would  have  no  trouble  in  deciding  between  a  Sun- 
derland and  a  Fisk.     But  the  circumstances  were 
not   ordinary.      Sunderland   was   an   ardent  anti- 
slavery  man,  —  one  of  the  sort  who  had  denounced 
Fisk  as  pro-slavery,  an  advocate  of  slavery  because 
of   his   colonization  principles.      Fisk   knew  that 
the  conference  favored  Sunderland's  views  rather 
than  his  own,  and  that  not  a  few  of  the  men  whose 
votes  were   to  decide    the    issue   had    signed   the 
memorial    addressed    to    the    British    conference 
which  had  so  embarrassed   him   at  Birmingham. 
Rev.  Dr.  Luckey,  then  editor  of  the   "  Christian 
Advocate"    at   New   York,   and   another   equally 
reliable    witness,   made   deposition    that   La    Roy 
Sunderland  had  willfully  and  repeatedly  lied  about 
the  action  of  the  New  England  Conference  respect- 
ing Sunderland's  case.    These  witnesses  threw  Sun- 


256  WILBUR  FISK. 

derland's  case  so  completely  out  of  court  that  noth- 
ing was  left  for  him  to  do  but  voluntarily  and 
unqualifiedly  to  withdraw  his  charge.  It  was  char- 
acteristic of  Fisk's  magnanimity  that,  though  Sun- 
derland had  charged  him  with  having  left  his  char- 
acter to  suffer  under  defamation  and  slander  while 
he  was  taking  his  ease  and  pleasure  abroad,  Dr. 
risk  did  not  wish  extreme  measures  taken  against 
his  disarmed  antagonist. 

On  the  first  of  August,  1838,  Wilbur  Fisk  pre- 
sided for  the  last  time  at  the  Commencement  of 
Wesley  an  University.  There  was  some  apprehen- 
sion on  the  part  of  many  personal  friends  of  Presi- 
dent Fisk  that  this  might  prove  his  last  appearance 
on  such  ceremonial  occasions,  but  this  fear  was 
apparently  not  shared  by  the  president's  immediate 
family.  Hence  nothing  presaging  such  a  change 
appeared  in  his  remarks  on  that  day,  nor  in  any 
of  the  addresses  spoken  on  the  commencement 
stage  by  the  youthfid  orators  or  essayists.  Yet  he 
was  so  feeble  that  many  doubted  his  ability  to 
endure  the  fatigues  of  the  occasion.  He  was  so 
anxious  to  participate  in  those  pleasant  scenes, 
that  he  laid  down  on  his  bed  until  the  moment 
came  for  joining  the  procession.  He  bore  the  exer- 
tion better  than  he  had  expected  to.  That  evening 
he  held  his  commencement  reception,  and  received 
the  guests  in  his  usual  cordial  and  affectionate 
way.  As  sixty  candidates  for  admission  were  ex- 
amined, the  whole  aspect  of  college  affairs  was 
bright  and  encouraging. 


THE  RENEWAL  AND   THE  END   OF  LABOR.     257 

The  first  token  tliat  Dr.  Fisk  was  overcloinj:: 
came  to  him  in  ascending  the  famous  leaning  tower 
at  Pisa.  His  companions  carried  him  doAvn  in 
part.  "  But  possibly  it  was  owing  in  part  to  this 
that  my  legs  were  for  months  afterwards  subject 
to  a  peculiar  numbness  and  dull  sensation  of  in- 
ternal pain,  which  complaint  was  not  a  little  em- 
barrassing in  my  subsequent  sight-seeing."  This 
trouble  recurred  in  1838,  attended  with  swelling 
and  stiffness  of  the  knee.  Yet  he  went  on  with 
almost  all  his  engagements.  He  had  now  come  to 
such  facility  in  the  use  of  his  pen  that  he  planned 
three  new  books,  —  one  on  Mental  Philosophy,  one 
on  Moral  Philosophy,  and  one  on  the  Philosophy 
of  Theology.  Meanwhile  his  correspondence  grew 
every  year  wider  and  wider.  He  never  lost  an  old 
correspondent.  He  readily  took  up  new  ones,  and 
even  the  humblest,  who  coidd  not  spell  even,  much 
less  tell  coherently  what  they  wished,  were  sure  of 
a  careful  and  detailed  answer  from  him.  After  his 
death  seven  hundred  and  twenty-five  letters  were 
found  filed  away,  all  received  and  answered  after 
his  return  from  Europe.  Yet  was  there  no  com- 
plete file  kept. 

The  approach  of  winter  renewed  and  intensified 
the  pains  in  his  limbs,  so  that  he  consulted  a  doctor 
and  used  some  local  applications.  The  old  longing 
for  preaching  took  fresh  hold  of  him,  and  he  gave 
two  or  three  moving  sermons  from  his  chair.  He 
Aasited  New  York  in  the  interest  of  his  dear  Ore- 
gon Mission.     He  also  attended  the  farewell  ser- 


258  WILBUR  FISK. 

vices  for  several  missionaries  to  Liberia.  He  was 
not  to  speak,  but  being  asked  to  do  so,  Dr.  Fisk 
arose,  and  delivered  one  of  his  most  splendid  and 
stirring  appeals.  "For  vivacity  and  power  it 
equaled,  if  it  did  not  exceed,  any  former  effort. 
It  completely  thrilled  his  audience,  and  '  drew  tears 
from  eyes  unused  to  weep.'  He  was  then  so  feeble 
that  he  had  to  sustain  himself  on  his  cane,  to  which 
he  affectingly  alluded  in  his  remarks."  He  made 
appeals  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  a 
celebration  of  the  Centennial  of  Universal  Method- 
ism, and  gave  needed  counsels  for  doing  it  in  the 
wisest  manner. 

At  a  watch-night  service,  the  last  night  of  the 
year.  Dr.  Fisk  preached  the  first  sermon,  on  the 
text,  "  Few  and  evil  have  the  days  of  the  years  of 
my  life  been,  and  have  not  attained  unto  the  days 
of  the  years  of  my  fathers  "  (Gen.  xlvii.  9).  Una- 
ble to  stand,  he  spoke  from  a  raised  seat.  Thus  he 
discoursed  of  life,  death,  and  immortality.  "As 
he  compared  man,  in  the  current  of  life,  to  a  vessel 
in  a  whirlpool,  borne  round  and  round  by  the  mad 
current,  offering  feeble  resistance,  until  it  reached 
the  vortex  and  disappeared;"  the  thought  startled 
many  that  he  was  thus  describing  his  own  peculiar 
situation.  The  next  day  being  New  Year's  Day, 
he  devoted  the  whole  of  it  to  making  calls  on 
friends  whom  his  duties  had  compelled  him  to 
neglect  through  the  year,  sapng :  "  I  must  exert 
myseK  to  meet  the  caUs  of  friendship,  or  I  never 
shall  have  time  to  meet  them.  My  duties  only 
seem  to  increase  with  my  years." 


THE  RENEWAL   AND   THE  END    OF  LABOR.     259 

The  last  time  Wilbur  Fisk  visited  an  earthly 
sanctuary  it  was  in  the  company  of  the  Rev.  Jason 
Lee,  of  the  Oregon  Mission,  with  three  little 
native  boys  to  be  educated  at  the  East  in  the 
Christian  religion.  Dr.  Fisk  was  greatly  pleased 
to  see  them,  and  they  to  see  the  "  Father  of  the 
Mission."  These  noble  men  conversed  on  this 
work  as  only  two  such  men  can.  There  and  then 
Dr.  Fisk  drew  a  plan  for  the  employment  and 
location  of  about  thirty  additional  laborers.  The 
next  September  they  sailed  for  Oregon.  Then 
he  took  part  in  a  service  at  the  church  held  in 
behalf  of  this  work. 

Notwithstanding  the  swelling  of  his  feet,  Dr. 
Fisk  went  on  with  his  work.  He  preached  his 
last  sermon  the  13th  of  January,  1839.  The  next 
day  he  spent  in  sketching  plans  for  a  new  boarding 
hall.  On  pleasant  days  he  took  walks  or  drives 
in  the  open  air.  His  last  excursion  of  this  sort 
was  to  visit  a  graduate  of  the  University  who  was 
seriously  ill  a  couple  of  miles  away.  On  the  31st 
of  January  he  for  the  first  time  kept  his  room,  yet 
he  kept  the  business  of  the  college  in  his  feeble 
hands  until  a  fortnight  before  his  death.  As  late 
as  February  5th,  he  sent  off  thirty  letters  written 
in  the  interest  of  the  college. 

As  all  his  bad  symptoms  had  grown  steadily 
worse,  —  constant  pain  in  the  limbs,  the  unabating 
swelling  of  his  feet,  his  expectoration  less,  but  his 
breathing  growing  steadily  more  obstructed  and 
difficult,  —  a  council  of  physicians  was  called  to 


260  WILBUR  FISK. 

examine  his  condition.  Their  report  was  that  no 
improvement  could  occur,  and  that  the  end  was 
not  far  off.  This  report  was  a  great  surprise  to 
him.  His  physical  condition  during  the  last  fort- 
night was  like  this  :  — 

"  A  constant  struggle  for  breath,  ahnost  to  suffoca- 
tion, and  a  most  excruciating  pain  in  his  chest  and 
bowels.  Though  it  was  cold,  he  could  bear  but  little 
fire,  —  at  times  none  at  all.  The  doors  were  kept  open 
all  the  time,  and  sometimes  the  windows ;  and  yet  he 
required  some  one  to  fan  him  almost  constantly,  to 
increase  the  circulation  of  air  around  him  to  assist  his 
respiration.  Those  around  him  had  to  wear  cloaks  and 
shawls." 

Lying  down  usually  had  the  effect  of  greatly  in- 
creasing the  difficulty  of  his  breathing,  so  that  he 
commonly  spent  twenty-three  hours  of  each  day  in 
his  chair,  and  only  one  on  his  bed. 

As  to  his  spiritual  condition  he  answered  all  in- 
quirers substantially  as  follows  :  "  Death  has  no 
terrors  ;  but  I  have  not  that  open  vision  of  heaven 
I  could  desire.  Pray  for  me,  that  the  prospect 
may  brighten.  I  have  a  fixed  peace."  Yet  this 
settled  peace  was  once  for  a  brief  time  disturbed. 
To  the  Rev.  Horace  Bartlett  he  said  :  "  The  enemy 
is  thrusting  at  me  sore.  If  you  have  any  faith, 
pray."  The  prayer  of  faith  broke  and  terminated 
the  evil  spells  of  unbelief. 

As  to  the  ground  of  his  confidence,  it  was  the 
sacrifice  and  intercession  of  the  Saviour.  Ho  would 
not  tolerate  any  reference  to  his  Christian  useful- 


THE  RENEWAL  AND   THE  END   OF  LABOR.     261 

ness  in  the  church  and  world,  as  a  ground  of  spe- 
cial gladness  or  hope  in  his  dying  hours  :  — 

"  Oh  how  little  have  I  done  !  Oh  the  many  defi- 
ciencies !  I  feel  constrained  to  ask  forgiveness  of  the 
chinch  and  the  world.  I  shall  be  a  star  of  small  mag- 
nitude, but  it  is  a  wonder  tliat  I  shall  get  to  heaven  at 
all.  It  is  because  love  works  miracles  that  such  a  sin- 
ful, feeble  worm  may  be  saved  by  grace.  Oh  the  mercy 
of  God,  to  put  such  comeliness  on  such  a  worm  as  I ! 
I  am  an  unprofitable  servant.  How  Uttle  have  I  done 
of  what  I  might  have  done  !  ,   .  . 

"I  have  thrown  myself  on  the  mercy  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus." 

As  to  the  great  Christian  doctrines  he  said, 
"They  are  the  truth  of  God,  and  will  bear  the 
light  of  eternity." 

Many  things  contributed  to  render  his  parting 
with  his  family  a  painful  and  anxious  one.  The 
advanced  age  of  his  mother-in-law,  the  youth  of 
their  adopted  daughter,  and  the  peculiar  unfitness 
of  Mrs.  Fisk  to  encounter  the  trials  of  widowhood, 
must  have  made  his  thoughts  about  them  gloomy 
and  comfortless  as  he  looked  to  their  situation  on 
its  eartldy  and  human  side.  As  he  had  always 
expected  to  outlive  his  wife  and  her  mother,  he 
had  not  been  careful  to  provide  means  for  their 
support  after  his  departure.  He  knew  that  all 
they  had,  supplemented  by  the  aid  which  would 
be  rendered  his  widow  from  the  funds  of  the  New 
England  Conference,  would  be  but  a  meagre  sus- 
tenance. Not  six  months  earlier,  after  the  session 
of  the  New  England  Conference,  says  Mrs.  Fisk :  — 


262  WILBUR  FISK. 

"  I  felt  alarmed  for  his  weakness,  and  expressed  my 
fears  that  his  exeitions  at  conference  would  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  disease  which  would  prove  fatal.  He 
replied  :  '  I  hope  not.  After  I  have  rested,  I  shall  be 
better.  I  have  been  called  to  make  great  exertions,  in 
behalf  of  the  church,  against  a  spirit  which  I  cannot 
think  is  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  I  have  done  it  consci- 
entiously, and  fi'om  a  sense  of  duty.'  And,  raising  his 
eyes  full  upon  my  face,  with  an  expression  I  had  never 
seen  on  his  face  before,  he  added  :  '  Dear  wife,  if  my 
exertions  could  only  be  the  means  of  uniting  the  church, 
I  am  willing  my  life  should  be  the  sacrifice.  And  is  it 
asking  too  much  of  you  ? '  I  burst  into  tears,  saying, 
'  I  cannot  feel  as  you  do.'  " 

This  touching  scene  must  serve  as  a  background 
and  relief  to  the  leave-taking  from  his  family. 
Witnessing  the  intensity  of  Mrs.  Fisk's  sorrow  on 
hearing  the  adverse  result  of  the  physicians'  coun- 
cil, lie  said :  — 

"  My  dear  wife,  I  have  always  loved  you  ;  I  have 
loved  to  love  you  ;  and  you  were  never  dearer  to  me 
than  at  this  moment.  But  do  not  distress  my  dying 
moments  with  your  grief.  This  ought  not  so  to  be.  I 
have  a  great  work  to  do  :  you  must  help  me  by  your 
prayers.  I  have  always  thought  I  should  outlive  you, 
and  have  always  prayed  that  this  lot  might  never  be 
yours ;  that  it  might  be  resei'ved  for  me,  for  I  know 
how  unable  you  are  to  bear  it.  But  God  seems  to  be 
determining  otherwise.  Bear  it  ?  You  cannot  bear  it ! 
But  God  will  help  you  ;  for  he  has  promised  to  be  the 
widow's  God  and  husband,  and  he  will  not  fail." 

Mrs.  risk  dropjDed  on  her  knees  before  him  (he 


THE  RENEWAL  AND   THE  END   OF  LABOR.     263 

was  in  his  cliair),  when  her  husband  laid  his  hands 
upon  her  head,  and  poured  out  his  soul  to  God 
for  her  in  prayer.  Then,  beckoning  Mrs.  Fisk's 
mother,  and  the  daughter,  Martha,  to  him,  he  gave 
the  whole  family,  as  they  knelt  around  him,  his 
dying  blessing,  concluding  with  the  words  :  "  I 
leave  you  in  the  hands  of  a  good  God.  He  will 
take  care  of  you."  From  that  hour  God  strength- 
ened the  heart  of  the  chief  mourner  for  the  duties 
and  trials  which  lay  before  her. 

At  another  time  the  sick  man  comforted  his  wife 
in  these  terms  :  — 

"  Your  husband  cannot   be   buried  !   he    will   be   in 
heaven.     His  body  may  be  ;  and  let  it  go,  and  mingle 
with  its  mother  earth  :  why  should  you  lament  ?     And 
yet  I  love  this  body,  notwithstanding  it  has  so  often 
been  a  hindrance  to  the  aspirations  of  my  mind  ;  for  it 
has  been  an  old  companion  of  mine.     It  has   cost  me 
much  care  and  pain,  its  tendency  being  continually  to 
decay  ;  and  though  it  may  lie  long  in  the  grave,  it  shall 
be  raised,  and  I  shall  see  it  again  ;  for  I  hope  to  be 
united  with  it,  but  with  none  of  its  infirmities,  with  none 
of  its  moral  deformities.     Yes,  every  particle  of   this 
dust  shall  be  raised  and  changed,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection.     Then  it  will 
be  freed  from  all  its  infirmities.     It  will  have  no  lame 
limbs,  no  weak  lungs.     It  will  be  refined  from  all  its 
gross  particles.     It  will  be  buoyant  and  ethereal,  glo- 
rious and  immortal !     It  will  be  perfect,  for  it  will  be 
fashioned  like  unto  Christ's   most  glorious  body,   and 
united  with  the  soul  forever." 


264  WILBUR  FISK. 

Referring  to  his  fond  parents,  Dr.  Fisk  said  :  — 

"  My  dear,  aged  parents,  how  will  they  bear  the  stroke  ! 
God  will  strengthen  them  for  all  his  will.  Write  to 
them,  as  soon  as  you  can,  all  the  particulars  of  my  sick- 
ness. Give  them  my  best  love.  Wherein  I  have  failed 
in  duty,  I  believe  they  will  put  it  down  to  poor  human 
nature.  Give  my  best  love  to  all  of  them.  Tell  them 
I  believe  I  shall  meet  them  all  in  heaven." 

Hearing  Mrs.  Fisk  say  that  his  life  had  been 
sacrificed  through  his  excesses  in  labor,  Dr.  Fisk 
said  :  " Sacrifice  —  sacrifice  —  what  did  you  say?" 
Being  reminded  that  this  was  the  opinion  of  the 
physicians,  he  proceeded  :  — 

"  Yes  ;  they  say  my  nervous  system  is  prostrated,  and 
that,  to  be  sure,  looks  like  sacrifice.  But  it  is  too  late  ^ 
now.  ...  I  do  not  know  but  my  friends  will  think  I 
have  done  wrong  in  exerting  myself  so  much,  and  I  do 
not  know  but  I  have  ;  but  I  have  not  intended  it.  It  is 
much  more  pleasant  for  me  now  to  look  back  and  feel 
that  I  have  exerted  myself  to  the  utmost  degree  of 
my  strength  —  for  you  know  I  could  do  but  little  at 
best  —  than  it  would  be  to  look  back  on  a  life  of  idle- 
ness. We  were  not  placed  here  to  be  idle ;  nor  shall  we 
be  idle  in  heaven.  I  feel,  indeed,  as  if  I  should  hardly 
want  to  go  there  if  I  thought  I  should  be  idle.  If  the 
Lord  take  me  away,  he  has  something  for  me  to  do  ;  for 
he  never  gave  me  such  energy  of  soul  as  I  have,  with- 
out designing  to  employ  it." 

There  were  two  things  which  he  now  arranged 
for  the  benefit  of  his  family.  Being  told  that 
the  church  and  world  would  expect  to  see  a  biog- 


THE  RENEWAL  AND   THE  END    OF  LABOR.     265 

raphy,  he  reluctantly  consented  to  the  suggestion, 
so  far  as  to  name  Professor  Holdich  as  his  choice 
for  that  work. 

At  a  later  day  he  said  to  Mrs.  Fisk :  — 
"  Write  to  Dr.  Bangs,  and  say  that  it  is  my  request 
that  my  writings  which  have  been  pubUshed  may  be 
collected  into  one  form,  and  pubhshed  for  your  benefit. 
Tell  Dr.  Bangs  to  say  to  the  brethren  I  believe  they 
would  wish  to  see  you  provided  for,  and  if  there  should 
be  more  than  you  need,  let  it  go  to  the  University :  I 
think  it  will  do  more  good  to  the  church  generally.  If 
I  had  thousands  to  leave,  I  should  think  I  was  benefit- 
ing the  general  church  most  by  leaving  it  to  the  Univer- 
sity ;  for,  I  trust,  streams  will  issue  thence  which  will 
greatly  assist  in  fertilizing  our  whole  moral  vineyard. 
Education  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  religion,  or  the 
world  wUl  never  be  converted  without  a  direct  miracle 
from  God.  Our  people  will  take  care  of  our  other  in- 
stitutions, but  I  fear  they  are  not  sufiRciently  awake  to 
the  subject  of  education.  Oh,  if  I  could  only  feel  that 
our  people  —  our  brethren  in  the  ministry  —  were  alive 
to  the  interests  of  the  University,  how  it  would  cheer 
my  departure !  But  I  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  a  good 
God,  who  has  blessed  it  beyond  our  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations, and  I  trust  will  continue  to  bless  it  for  the 
good  of  the  church  and  for  his  own  glory." 

This  message  shows  that  the  University  had  the 
next  position  to  his  own  family  in  the  affections  of 
Wilbur  Fisk;  hence  we  may  as  well  complete  here 
what  he  had  to  say  on  that  point.  It  is  noticeable 
that  he  sent  no  message  to  the  New  England  Con- 
ference on  the  kindred  subjects  of  education  and 


266  WILBUR  FISK. 

the  University,  probably  for  the  reason  that  he 
had  already  so  trained  that  conference  to  liberal 
ideas  and  action  on  that  matter,  that  it  was  already 
leading  the  church.  But  when  he  last  saw  Dr. 
Bangs  he  intrusted  him  with  a  message  to  tell  the 
New  York  Conference  :  "  That  I  give  it  as  my 
dying  request  that  they  nurse  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity, —  that  they  must  exert  themselves  to  sustain 
it  and  carry  it  forward."  The  selection  of  Dr. 
Bangs  as  bearer  of  this  solemn  message  shows  the 
usual  sagacity  of  President  Fisk,  since  Dr.  Bangs 
could  induce  that  conference  to  heed  this  dying 
request,  if  anybody  could. 

When  people  spoke  to  Dr.  Fisk  about  the  loss 
the  college  woidd  sustain  by  his  death,  he  replied : 
'•  I  think  it  is  of  God,  and  if  so,  he  will  no  doubt 
take  care  of  it.  If  it  is  not,  certainly  I  have  been 
connected  with  it  long  enough.  It  has  always 
been  my  aim,  and,  so  far  as  I  know  the  feelings  of 
the  faculty,  it  has  been  the  aim  of  us  all,  to  send 
forth  young  men  into  the  world  to  make  it  better." 
Again:  "It  will  be  easy  to  find  another  president, 
but  not  so  easy  to  find  another  father." 

Of  the  facidty  circle  he  once  said  :  "  We  all 
loved  each  other,  and  lived  together  in  such  har- 
mony." Mrs.  Holdich  responded:  "Yes,  doctor, 
but  you  were  the  magnet  that  drew  us  all  to- 
gether. We  all  loved  you."  "  Yes,  but  not  be- 
cause I  was  worthy,"  was  the  modest  reply. 

As  his  illness  was  during  the  long  vacation,  not 
all  the  members  of   the  faculty  were  accessible. 


THE  RENEWAL  AND    THE  END   OF  LABOR.     267 

But  to  those  who  were  in  town  the  invitation  went 
to  come  together  to  the  sick-room  of  their  friend 
and  president.  To  them  he  expressed  his  fears 
that  the  church  in  general  was  not  keenly  enough 
alive  to  the  cause  of  Christian  education,  and  went 
on :  "  On  you,  therefore,  will  devolve  a  double 
duty.  Oh,  be  faithful !  Hitherto  you  have  been 
faitliful."  Then  to  Professor  Smith,  who  liad  al- 
ways been  acting-president  during  his  various  ab- 
sences from  the  college,  he  said :  "  I  thank  you 
for  the  interest  you  have  manifested  in  reHeving 
my  burden.  You  and  Professor  Huber  have  been 
associated  with  me  the  longest ;  you  have,  there- 
fore, shared  with  me  the  deepest  in  the  cares,  the 
interest,  and  the  poverty  of  the  University.  But 
you  will  not  lose  your  reward.  I  would  express 
my  love  and  gratitude  to  you  all  for  your  kindness 
to  me.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  recollect 
how  pleasantly  we  have  lived  together,  not  only  in 
college,  but  in  our  little  family  circle.  We  have 
shared  each  other's  joys  and  sorrows."  Then  for 
the  beloved  wife  so  soon  to  become  a  desolate 
widow  he  asked,  with  incomparable  grace,  a  tender 
place  in  their  homes  and  hearts,  saying :  "  I  be- 
lieve she  has  added  years  to  my  life  by  her  con- 
stant care  and  nursing.  You  will  love  her  for  my 
sake."  Mrs.  Professor  Smith  answered  for  all 
that  so  it  always  had  been,  and  so  it  always  should 
be ;  a  vow  which  was  sacredly  redeemed.  With 
his  habitual  courtesy  the  dying  man  said,  that 
what  he  had  said  of  the  professors  applied  to  those 
absent  as  well  as  to  those  present. 


268  WILBUR  FISK. 

The  students  who  were  in  town,  to  the  number 
of  about  a  hundred,  wished  to  bid  their  honored 
president  and  faithful  friend  good-by.  At  his  de- 
sire, they  came  to  his  house  in  a  body.  As  soon  as 
he  caught  sight  of  them  he  beckoned  to  them  to 
come  in.  To  each  he  gave  his  wan  and  wasted 
hand,  and  whispered  a  few  parting  words.  It  was 
remarked  by  all  present  that  his  counsels  varied  in 
accordance  with  his  knowledge  of  their  character 
and  wants.  The  impression  upon  their  minds  was 
ineffaceable. 

Mrs.  Fisk  asked  him  if  he  had  any  message  for 
the  New  England  Conference  ?  His  answer  was : 
"  I  have  not  strength  to  frame  one.  Yet  you  may 
say  to  them,  '  Oh,  be  faithful  I  And,  though  we 
have  had  some  differences  of  opinion,  I  die  at 
peace  with  them,  and  with  all  mankind;  and  I 
hope  they  will  meet  me  in  heaven,  where  we  shall 
see  eye  to  eye.'"  It  was  possibly  in  connection 
with  this  that  somebody  asked  his  present  views 
of  the  Colonization  Societ}^  He  replied  :  "  I  advo- 
cated that  cause  from  principle.  It  was  not  blind 
impulse  or  passion,  though  I  may  sometimes  have 
erred  in  spirit.  But  they  have  been  unhrotherly 
in  imputing  to  me  motives  that  were  never  in  my 
heart." 

The  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Methodist  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  New  York  called  a  special 
meeting  to  send  a  committee  of  nine  members, 
"  to  repair  forthwith  to  Middletown,  in  token  of 
the  interest  felt  in  the  present  season  of  alarm  on 


THE  RENEWAL   AND   THE  END   OF  LABOR.    269 

account  of  our  esteemed  brother,  and  that  they  be 
authorized,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  to  prepare  and 
adopt,  on  behalf  of  this  Board,  such  resolutions  of 
condolence  as  the  melancholy  occasion  may  require, 
and  take  such  other  measures  as  circmnstances  may 
call  for." 

Three  of  the  committee  —  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bangs, 
the  Rev.  John  Lindsey,  and  G.  P.  Disosway,  Esq. 
—  visited  Dr.  Fisk  on  this  mournful  errand. 
When  they  told  him  why  they  had  come,  he  said : 
"I  feel  very  grateful,  though  unworthy  of  such 
attention.  It  is,  however,  only  an  additional  evi- 
dence of  the  Christian  sympathy  and  brotherly 
affection  I  have  so  long  beheld  among  my  breth- 
ren." 

A  letter  reached  him  from  some  of  the  saintly 
members  of  the  British  Conference.  When  it  had 
been  read  to  him  he  said :  "  Dear,  dear  brethren ! 
it  is  so  like  them !     I  shall  meet  them  in  heaven." 

With  his  keen  delight  in  music,  it  was  a  sweet 
pleasure  to  have  some  of  the  songs  of  Zion  sung 
by  some  of  his  visitors.  One  of  his  favorite  hJ^nns 
is  number  822  of  the  revised  Methodist  hpnn- 
book.  This  was  often  sung  in  his  room  during 
his  illness,  and  his  face  glowed  with  holy  joy  as 
he  whispered  the  words :  — 

"Happy  if  with  my  latest  breath 
I  may  but  gasp  his  name, 
Preach  him  to  all,  and  cry  in  death, 
Behold,  behold  the  Lamb  !  " 

Watts' s  hymn,  another  favorite,  was  sung  at  his 
desire :  — 


270  WILBUR  FISK. 

"  Lord,  in  thy  temple  we  appear." 

He  whispered  out,  slow  and  distinct,  the  last  two 
stanzas :  — 

"Jesus,  the  vision  of  thy  face 
Hath  overpowering-  charms ; 
Scarce  shall  I  feel  Death's  cold  embrace 
If  I  be  in  thy  arms. 

"  And  while  you  hear  my  heartstrings  break, 
How  sweet  the  moments  roll ! 
A  mortal  paleness  on  my  cheek, 
But  glory  in  my  soul." 

His  catholicity  of  temper  was  very  naturally 
called  out  when  clergymen  not  belonging  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  called  on  Dr.  Fisk. 
Thus,  when  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Granger  and  Tyler, 
pastors  of  the  Middletown  Congregational  churches, 
visited  him,  "  he  immediately  began  to  converse 
about  the  solemn  responsibilities  of  the  ministry, 
and  said,  'I  hope  you  will  give  the  trumpet  a 
more  certain  sound  than  I  have  ever  done.'  "  Af- 
terwards he  spoke  of  the  happiness  of  the  union 
of  all  real  Christians,  of  whatever  name,  remark- 
ing, "  Oh,  the  near  prospect  of  heaven  seems  to 
swallow  up  all  those  little  distinctions  which  sep- 
arate evangelical  Christians."  To  the  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cookson,  he 
said  :  "  I  am  leaving  the  walls,  but  I  leave  you  on 
them.  God  bless  you  and  make  you  more  faithful 
in  sounding  the  gospel  triunpet  than  I  have  been. 
Oh  the  responsibilities  of  a  minister  !  May  not 
the  blood  of  souls  be  found  on  our  skirts !  " 


THE  RENEWAL  AND   THE  END   OF  LABOR.     Ill 

In  one  of  his  awful  paroxysms  of  distress,  when 
all  present  thought  the  breath  had  left  the  body 
forever,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jarvis,  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  chanced  to  be  present,  and  j^i-onounced 
over  the  departing  saint  these  words :  — 

"  Unto  God's  gracious  mercy  and  protection  we  com- 
mit tliee.  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee.  The 
Lord  make  his  face  to  shine  upon,  and  be  gracious  unto 
thee.  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and 
give  thee  peace  both  now  and  evermore." 

On  reviving,  the  weary  man  said,  "  I  thought  I 
should  never  breathe  again." 

To  the  various  visitors  whom  he  received  in  his 
sick-room,  whether  they  came  merely  to  show  their 
respect  or  on  errands  of  mercy,  he  always  had 
just  the  right  thing  to  say,  so  that  these  words 
were  long  treasured  up  with  gratitude.  One  of 
his  visitors  managed  to  say  to  him  what  all  felt. 
To  Judge  Hubbard,  whom  he  had  known  in  busi- 
ness relations,  he  said,  "You  find  me  hovering 
between  two  worlds."  "  And  fit  for  either,"  was 
the  felicitous  response. 

He  could  not  bear  to  think  of  the  trouble  and 
distress  of  his  family  during  his  long  illness.  His 
wife  says :  — 

"  He  became  somewhat  easier,  and  occasionally  had 
brief  naps.  Such  had  been  his  distress  that  I  had  passed 
several  days  and  nights  without  sleep.  He  had  repeat- 
edly urged  me  to  He  down  until  I  said  to  him,  '  My  dear, 
don't  make  the  request.  Let  me  be  with  you  while  I 
can.     Every  moment,  every  word,  is  precious.'     Then 


272  WILBUR  FISK. 

he  ceased  ;  yet  every  look  told  liis  anxious  feelings. 
Mrs.  Waring  came  to  watch  that  evening.  Seeing  his 
anxiety,  she  urged  me  to  lie  down,  saying,  '  It  will  do 
your  husband  good  to  see  you  resting,  and  he  continues 
easier.'  My  dear  husband  looked  up  ;  he  spoke  not, 
but  his  eyes  pleaded  her  petition.  I  placed  myself  on  a 
bed  near  him,  so  that  I  could  see  him.  He  remained 
easier,  and  sleep  soon  overtook  me.  As  soon  as  I  woke 
I  went  to  him  and  he  said,  '  Why  did  you  not  sleep 
longer  ?  '  When  the  lady  went,  he  asked  her  to  '  come 
again,  you  relieve  Mrs.  Fisk  so  much.' " 

He  expressed  liis  gratitude  to  all  who  had  any 
care  of  him  in  terms  which  showed  how  deeply  he 
felt  their  sympathy  and  love.  When  all  efforts 
on  one  occasion  did  not  give  him  the  ease  he 
hoped  for,  he  said,  as  if  apologizing  for  a  personal 
fault :  — 

"  We  will  try  and  make  it  do.  I  hope  you  will  not 
think  me  impatient  because  I  want  moving  so  often. 
...  I  hope  I  am  not  impatient :  I  groan  and  sigh  a 
great  deal,  and  I  have,  perhaps,  been  in  the  habit  of  it 
aU  my  life  ;  but  I  hope  it  is  not  impatience,  and  I  think 
it  is  not.  It  is  only  one  of  Nature's  methods  of  express- 
ing her  agony,  and  I  do  not  know  but  she  finds  relief 
that  way." 

Again,  after  intense  pain :  — 

"  All  this  and  not  death  !  I  thought  I  was  almost 
home  ;  but  if  the  Lord  bid  me  suffer,  I  would  say, 
'  Thy  will  be  done.'  It  is  sweet  to  sink  into  the  will  of 
God,  and  feel  that  all  is  well." 

When  one  tried  to  ease  him  by  holding  him  in 
an  easier  posture,  he  said  :  — 


THE  RENEWAL   AND   THE  END   OF  LABOR.     273 

"  It  will  not  afford  relief  enough  to  compensate  you 
for  your  fatigue.  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know  what  I  am 
spared  for,  unless  to  furnish  an  opportunity  of  showing 
the  patience  of  my  friends.  Sure  never  man  had  such 
friends  !  " 

His  sufferings  had  now  become  so  intense  that 
it  took  four  persons  to  attend  to  his  wants.  He 
couhl  find  no  relief  from  his  complaint  except  by- 
lying  down,  and  then  for  no  more  than  an  hour  at 
a  time,  when  he  would  begin  to  strangle.  He 
was  seated  the  rest  of  the  day  in  his  chair.  One 
was  incessantly  busy  fanning  him ;  another  gave 
him  his  food  and  medicines ;  and  two  were  busy 
shifting  him  to  positions  which  might  promise 
momentary  relief,  or  changing  this  pillow  or  that 
blanket  in  the  vain  hope  that  the  sufferer  would 
find  things  a  little  less  unendurable.  His  very 
flesh  seemed  all  alive  with  anguish,  and  his  weari- 
ness became  intolerable,  unutterable.  After  vainly 
trying  to  keep  his  bed  a  few  moments,  he  said : 
"  I  can  find  no  rest,  —  tried  the  bed,  but  my  body 
is  sore  all  over.  I  cannot  lie  down.  What  must 
a  man  do  when  he  can  neither  lie  nor  sit?  O 
weary,  weary  me  !  When  shall  I  find  rest,  —  rest 
in  the  grave  ?  "  After  another  bootless  quest  for 
an  easier  position  on  his  couch  for  a  body  which 
ached  in  every  muscle,  quivered  in  every  nerve, 
and  was  tired  in  every  fibre,  he  said :  "  I  have 
always  thought  I  should  have  a  lingering  illness, 
but  an  easy  death.  I  would  like  to  have  my  bed 
my  dying  pillow ;  but  my  Saviour  died  on  the 
cross." 


274  WILBUR  FISK. 

Yet  even  in  such  distress  lie  was  as  unselfish  as 
ever.  After  one  of  his  terrible  spasms  of  distress, 
when  he  knew  from  his  symptoms  that  another 
was  not  far  oif ,  as  he  noticed  one  of  the  attendant 
physicians,  Dr.  Woodward,  leaving  the  room,  he 
exclaimed,  "  The  doctor  will  not  leave  me  now.  I 
feel  that  the  paroxysm  will  be  very  severe."  But 
when  told  that  he  had  been  sent  for  by  another 
patient,  a  lady  who  was  very  sick,  he  said,  "  Oh, 
then,  let  him  go."  Then  he  asked  Mrs.  Fisk  to 
pray  with  him  for  her  relief,  and  closed  his  eyes 
for  a  time  in  silent  prayer.  Anything  finer  than 
this  I  know  not  where  to  find  in  history,  though 
something:  of  the  same  nature  I  do  observe  in 
the  famous  act  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney  at  Zutphen, 
where  he  received  a  wound  in  his  left  leg.  .  .  . 
"  Being  thirsty  with  excess  of  bleeding,  he  called 
for  drink,  which  was  presently  brought  him ;  but 
as  he  was  putting  the  bottle  to  his  mouth,  he  saw 
a  poor  soldier  carried  along,  who  had  eaten  his 
last  at  the  same  feast,  ghastly  casting  his  eyes  at 
the  bottle,  which  Sir  Philip  percei^'ing  took  it 
from  his  head  before  he  drank,  and  delivered  to 
the  poor  man  with  the  words, '  Thy  necessity  is  yet 
greater  than  mine.''  "  Assui^edly  Wilbur  Fisk  was 
a  true  kinsman  to  the  noblest  of  English  heroes 
and  noblemen. 

The  last  few  days  were  less  distressing,  because 
he  had  fallen  into  a  lethargic  torpor,  from  which 
it  was  not  easy  to  arouse  him,  but  when  aroused 
he  was  rational  and  intelligent.     His  last  words 


TEE  RENEWAL  AND    TEE  END  OF  LABOR.    275 

were  spoken  when  Mrs.  Fisk  aroused  him  by 
pressing  his  hand,  and  asking  him  if  he  knew  her. 
He  returned  the  pressure,  saying,  "  Yes,  love,  yes." 
It  was  the  22d  of  February,  1839,  that  Dr.  Fisk 
died. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FINAL   LESSONS. 

It  is  fifty  years  since  the  death  of  Wilbur  Fisk, 
so  that  this  is  a  natural  point  for  asking  ourselves 
how  far  he  was  successful.  A  saintly  life  always 
is  successful  in  the  eyes  of  God.  In  human  eyes 
this  is  not  always  so  apparent,  though  a  saint  like 
Madame  Guyon,  John  Fletcher,  St.  Francis  of  As- 
sisi,  or  Mrs.  Judson,  makes  a  strong  impression 
even  on  worldly  men.  In  the  case  of  men  like  Fa- 
ber  and  Newman,  there  is  always  a  suspicion  that 
their  fame  for  saintliness  has  been  heightened,  if 
not  created,  by  solitude  and  congenial  companion- 
ship. They  impress  the  world  with  their  holiness 
in  an  indirect  and  a  roundabout  way.  But  a  saint 
who  is  a  pastor,  a  presiding  elder,  the  principal  of  a 
large  school  for  young  people,  president  of  a  col- 
lege, has  a  fond  and  very  exacting  wife,  is  delegate 
to  general  conference,  interested  in  the  temperance 
and  slavery  questions,  who  must  organize  boards 
of  trustees  for  educational  institutions,  and  faculties 
of  instruction,  be  school  commissioner  and  visitor, 
be  twice  chosen  bishop,  have  much  controversy  on 
theological  questions  and  also  on  questions  of 
ecclesiastical  and  national  policy,  has  the  immense 


FINAL  LESSONS.  277 

advantage  of  acting  with  all  the  force  of  his  sanc- 
tity on  men  who  are  in  the  thick  of  this  world's 
business.  A  man  who  is  a  saint  in  all  this  and 
throiioh  all  this  is  the  sort  of  saint  the  world 
needs.  Whatever  Wilbur  Fisk  had  to  do  in  any 
of  the  relations  of  life  was  better  and  more  faith- 
fully done  because  of  his  holiness  ;  for  he  thought 
the  whole  conscience,  the  whole  judgment,  the 
whole  will,  ought  to  go  into  every  act  of  duty. 
Hence  the  many-sidedness  as  well  as  manly  vigor 
of  his  activity.  Hence  too  the  religious  fruitful- 
ness  of  Dr.  Fisk's  life.  If  one  considers  the  brev- 
ity of  his  ministerial  life  (for  he  joined  conference 
in  1818  and  died  in  1839,  and  was  for  some  years 
too  ill  to  preach)  it  was  a  fruitful  life.  We  have 
seen  that  at  Craftsbury,  Charlesto^\^l,  Wilbraham, 
and  Mi(ldleto\vn,  however  successful  in  other  ways, 
he  would  have  and  did  have  souls  as  seals  to  his 
ministry;  for  nothing  else  would  content  him.  He 
was  often  asked  to  assist  other  pastors  in  revival 
labors,  and  more  than  one  church  owed  its  exist- 
ence to  his  missionary  zeal. 

How  far  successful  Dr.  Fisk  was  in  educational 
work  has  been  already  set  forth  with  such  detail 
that  it  will  not  be  needful  here  to  do  more  than 
allude  to  it.  It  was  shown  that  there  had  been 
an  extremely  creditable  change  in  New  England 
Methodist  education  since  Dr.  Fisk's  day.  From 
the  fact  that  nothing  was  said  of  such  work  in 
other  parts  of  the  country,  it  should  not  be  suj)- 
posed  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  said.     Schools 


278  WILBUR  FISK. 

on  the  model  of  the  one  at  Wilbraham  have  been 
multiplied  in  every  part  of  the  country,  so  that 
nothinsT  but  want  of  room  has  led  to  the  omission 
of  details  about  them.  Were  all  the  Methodist 
colleo'es  that  have  been  established  elsewhere  in 
our  land  to  do  the  same  kind  of  work  that  Wes- 
leyan  University  has  done,  grouped  together  at 
Middletown,  the  array  in  point  of  numbers  would 
dwarf  Oxford  University  itself.  And  of  this  vast 
educational  movement  Dr.  Fisk  was  the  providen- 
tial leader,  because  he  first  brought  into  play  the 
common  sense,  the  hard  work,  the  saintly  charac- 
ter, and  the  religious  inspiration  needful  for  such 
a  difficult  work. 

The  two  reforms  for  which  Dr.  Fisk  labored  so 
assiduously  and  unsparingly,  temperance  and  anti- 
slavery,  have  had  curiously  contrasted  fortunes. 
He  thought  the  victory  of  the  temperance  cause  at 
the  very  gates,  on  account  of  the  ease  with  which 
Christians  of  every  section  of  the  country  and  of 
all  churches  could  be  combined  against  it.  Yet 
the  saloon  still  baffles  its  enemies,  and  secures  a 
reversal  of  aU  legislation  that  seeks  its  extinction. 
But  slavery,  which  seemed  so  impregnable  to  him 
behind  its  constitutional  defenses,  has  been  swept 
out  of  existence,  simply  because  it  was  mad  enough 
to  renounce  the  constitutional  protection  which 
was  its  only  safeguard  against  the  civilization  and 
humanity  of  the  age.  Yet  with  wdiat  heightened 
courage  and  faith  in  God  woidd  he  not  rene^v  the 
war  against  rum  in  view  of  the  unhoped  for  and 
magnificent  victory  over  slavery  ! 


FJNAL  LESSONS.  279 

So  with  the  missionary  work  in  which  Dr.  Fisk 
took  such  an  early  and  intelligent  interest.  It  is 
not  merely  the  immense  advance  that  has  been 
made  in  the  sums  given  for  missions  ;  in  the  better 
literary,  classical,  and  scientific  education  given 
modern  missionaries  ;  in  the  wiser  methods  of  mis- 
sionary activity  that  would  seem  hopefid  to  Dr. 
risk,  but  the  profounder  way  in  which  the  church 
has  grasped  the  true  principles  of  missionary  zeal 
and  activity.  A  good  man  triumphs  in  the  tri- 
umph of  the  causes  to  which  he  is  devoted. 

The  most  recent  of  Edwards'  biographers  has 
shown  us  how  he  was  drawn  on  to  undertake  the 
defense  of  all  the  extravagances  of  Calvinism  both 
at  the  bar  of  reason  and  of  Scriptvire.  So  pow- 
erful was  that  defense  that  it  compelled  a  read- 
justment of  the  views  of  all  the  advocates  of 
Calvinism  in  the  English  Protestant  world.  This 
movement  of  readjustment  was  equally  obvious 
amongst  the  adversaries  of  Calvinism  ;  for  they 
were  compelled  to  reexamine  the  philosophical 
basis  of  his  views,  as  well  as  to  submit  to  search- 
ing scrutiny  the  exegetical  principles  to  which  he 
had  resorted.  This  work  of  readjustment  has 
been  largely  left  to  the  American  Wesleyans,  be- 
cause Edwards  is  much  more  of  a  vital  force  here 
than  abroad.  Amongst  the  other  American  critics 
of  Edwards'  Inquiry,  the  book  of  Bledsoe,  "  Ex- 
amination of  Edwards  on  the  Will,"  deserves 
careful  study,  as  being  the  only  formal  reply  by 
an  Arminian. 


280  WILBUR  FISK. 

The  real  answer,  though  not  a  formal  one,  to 
the  doctrines  of  Edwards  and  his  school,  was  to 
come  from  a  pupil  and  associate  of  Dr.  Fisk's  at 
Wesleyan  University,  —  Daniel  Denison  Whedon. 
Young  Whedon  had  enjoyed  long  and  fruitfid  in- 
tercourse with  President  Fisk.  Of  him  he  says, 
"  I  learned  more  theology  from  Dr.  Fisk  than  any 
other  man."  He  was  Fisk's  trusted  friend  through- 
out his  "  Calvinistic  Controversy,"  and  it  was  prob- 
ably at  his  suggestion  that  AVhedon  began  a  care- 
ful study  of  Edwards'  Inquiry,  for  he  says  :  — 

"  Even  so  late  as  my  pupilage,  the  scholar  was  ex- 
pected to  understand  his  soul  from  Locke,  his  con- 
science from  Paley,  and  his  responsibility  from  Edwards. 
Of  this  triad,  if  the  indicated  materialism  of  the  first, 
the  low  expediency  of  the  second,  and  the  granitic  fatal- 
ism of  the  third,  did  not  prepai-e  me  for  the  atheism  of 
Hume,  it  was  because  my  moral  sensibilities  disbelieved 
and  I'epudiated  the  whole  quaternion.  I  could  neither 
believe,  from  the  first,  that  I  had  no  soul  ;  from  the  sec- 
ond, that  I  had  no  conscience ;  from  the  third,  that  I 
had  no  will  ;  nor  from  the  fourth,  that  I  had  no  God."  ^ 

This  systematic  and  thorough  study  of  Edwards' 
Inquiry  had  one  unexpected  result :  — 

"  As  he  followed  Edwards'  steps,  he  felt  compelled 
to  assent  to  Edwards'  arguments,  until  he  at  length 
found  himself  led  into  the  terrible  grasp  of  an  iron 
fatalism.  From  this  his  soul  revolted,  but  his  reason 
saw  no  way  of  escape.  It  caused  him  the  greatest  dis- 
tress.    It  haunted  him  by  day,  and  awoke  him  from 

^  Whedou's  Essays,  Reviews,  and  Discourses,  p.  38. 


FINAL  LESSONS.  281 

sleep  by  night.  He  called  on  God  for  relief,  and  be- 
soufrht  him  for  light ;  he  would  rise  from  his  bed  to 
pray  ;  and  finally,  when  on  his  knees  in  prayer,  he  saw 
the  clue.  With  that  clue  he  turned  anew  to  his  read- 
ing the  first  chapters  of  Edwards,  and  soon  detected  his 
fallacies  and  mistakes.  That  clue  was  the  fact  of  human 
responsihility.  It  is  the  basis  of  his  argument  against 
the  necessarian  theory.  Thus  the  treatise  on  the  Will 
was  begotten  in  prayer.  It  was  at  the  suggestion  of 
Dr.  Fisk  that  he  began  to  write." 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Jonathan  Edwards  was 
for  years  in  a  state  of  mind  towards  those  dogmas 
closely  resembling  that  of  his  illustrious*  critic. 
"  From  my  childhood  up,  my  mind  had  been  full 
of  objections  against  the  doctrine  of  God's  sover- 
eignty, in  choosing  whom  he  would  to  eternal  life, 
and  rejecting  whom  he  pleased,  leaving  them 
eternally  to  perish  and  be  everlastingly  tormented 
in  hell.  It  used  to  appear  like  a  horrible  doctrine 
to  me."  It  is  curious  to  mark  the  sharply  con- 
structed outcome  of  such  scruples  in  the  minds  of 
these  two  greatest  of  American  metaphysicians. 
Edwards  says :  — 

"  I  remember  the  time  very  well  when  I  seemed  to 
be  convinced  and  fully  satisfied  as  to  this  sovereignty  of 
God,  and  his  justice  in  thus  eternally  disposing  of  men 
according  to  his  sovereign  pleasure  ;  but  never  could 
give  an  account  how  or  by  what  means  I  was  thus  con- 
vinced, not  in  the  least  imagining  at  the  time,  nor  a 
long  time  after,  that  there  was  any  extraordinary  influ- 
ence of  God's  spii'it  in  it,  but  only  that  I  now  saw  fur- 


282  WILBUR  FJSK. 

ther,  and  ray  mind  saw  the  justice  and  reasonableness 
of  it.  However,  my  mind  rested  in  it,  and  it  put  an 
end  to  those  cavils  and  questionings.  .  .  .  God's  abso- 
lute sovereignty  and  his  justice  with  respect  to  salvation 
is  what  my  mind  seemed  to  rest  assured  of,  as  much  as 
of  anything  that  I  see  with  my  eyes  ;  at  least  it  was  so 
at  times.  But  I  have  often  since  had  quite  another 
kind  of  sense  of  God's  sovereignty  than  I  had  then. 
I  have  often  had  not  only  a  conviction,  but  a  delightful 
conviction.  The  doctrine  has  very  often  appeared  ex- 
ceedingly bright,  pleasant,  and  sweet.  But  my  first 
conviction  was  not  so." 

If  ever  a  great  thinker  went  tlirougli  with  griev- 
ous, sorrowful,  and  contradictory  frames  of  mind 
towards  his  own  inherited  dogmas,  it  was  Jona- 
than Edwards.  The  first  attitude,  "  from  my 
cliildhood  up,"  was  one  of  strong  repulsion  and 
disgust ;  then  came  a  second  attitude  of  strong 
approval  of  them,  but  never  was  he  able  to  assign 
and  explain  any  reasons  for  this  transition  from 
strongly  hostile  to  strongly  favorable  feelings :  it 
happened  and  Edwards  recorded  it ;  "  at  least  it 
was  so  at  times  "  is  incidentally  thrown  in.  The 
fhial  transition  in  his  mind  is  "  from  conviction  to 
delightful  conviction  "  of  their  truth. 

Edwards'  account  has  the  frankness  and  candor 
of  a  great  and  powerful  thinker.  His  statements 
are  not  without  certain  elements  of  contradiction. 
In  one  sentence  he  "  could  never  give  an  account 
how  or  by  what  means  I  was  thus  convinced  ; " 
and  in  the  next  he  thought,  "  I  now  saw  further. 


FINAL  LESSONS.  283 

and  my  mind  saw  the  justice  and  reasonableness 
of  it."  Then  the  idea  comes  to  him  that  this 
changed  attitude,  whose  logical  reasons  he  does  not 
see  and  cannot  explain,  may  proceed  from  "  an  un- 
common influence  of  God's  spirit."  It  was  in  this 
illogical  and  confusing  way  that  Edwards'  mind 
found  rest  from  "  those  ca\dls  and  questionings  " 
which  had  followed  him  from  his  youth. 

The  younger  metaphysician,  brought  up  in  tra- 
ditional unbelief  of  Edwards'  principles,  but  led 
both  by  the  advice  of  Dr.  Fisk  and  the  natural 
attraction  of  a  strono;  book  for  a  strong  thinker  to 
study  Edwards,  exposes  his  mind  to  the  full  force 
of  Edwards'  argument.  At  first,  the  reasoning 
overwhelms  his  mind ;  he  becomes  temporarily  an 
Edwardean  in  philosophy  and  theology.  But  his 
moral  distress  is  so  intense  as  to  fill  his  soul  with 
anguish.  In  pra3'er  to  God  for  direction,  the 
clue  to  the  errors  of  Edwards  is  given  him  in  the 
fact  of  human  responsibility.  A  quarter  of  a 
century  later,  this  pupil  and  successor  of  Wilbur 
Fisk  in  the  championship  of  Arminian  theology 
gave  the  best  exposition  and  defense  of  those  views 
the  world  has  yet  seen  in  "  The  Freedom  of  the 
Will  as  a  Basis  of  Human  Responsibility,  and  a 
Divine  Government  Elucidated  and  Maintained  in 
its  Issue  with  the  Necessarian  Theories  of  Hobbes, 
Edwards,  the  Princeton  Essayists,  and  other  Lead- 
ing Advocates." 

This  book  was  instantly  recognized  by  all  good 
judges,  whether  friends  or  foes  to  its  doctrines,  as 


284  WILBUR  FISK. 

tlie  broadest,  most  scholarly,  and  most  pliilosophic 
defense  of  the  Arminian  system  that  has  ever 
been  published.  It  has  long  been  one  of  the 
books  every  young  Methodist  clergyman  has  to 
lay  to  heart  as  a  part  of  his  course  of  study.  It 
has  made  an  equally  decided  impression  upon  hos- 
tile critics  and  students,  as  appeared  from  the  vio- 
lence of  their  attacks  as  well  as  the  carefulness 
with  which  they  study  it.  Regular  courses  of 
lectures  on  it  are  given  in  several  Cahanistic  the- 
ological schools,  which  bestow  no  such  honor  on 
Edwards'  Inquiry.  Yet  no  formal  answer  has  ap- 
peared. 

It  is  mainly  on  the  strength  of  this  book  that 
the  roimd  of  questions  relating  to  the  freedom  of 
the  will  may  be  regarded  as  having  found  an  ade- 
quate settlement. 

It  is  not  meant  by  this  that  the  advocates  of 
necessity  will  disappear  from  the  realm  of  philoso- 
phy or  of  theology.  What  is  meant  is,  that  what- 
ever can  be  said  on  either  side  has  been  said.  At 
the  present  hour,  one  of  the  most  hopeful  religious 
omens  is  the  frankness  with  which  former  Calvin- 
ists  repudiate  their  own  errors.  When  that  most 
conservative  of  churches,  the  Presbyterian,  is 
widely  agitated  by  vigorous  movements  in  favor 
of  a  revision  of  its  Calvinistic  formularies,  Wesley, 
Fisk,  and  Whedon  may  well  congratulate  them- 
selves that  not  only  does  no  such  contention  divide 
the  peace  and  energies  of  their  followers,  but  also 
that  not  a  few  of  the  noblest  and  wisest  of  the 


FINAL  LESSONS.  285 

Calvinistic  leaders  see  in  the  unity  and  ortho- 
doxy of  Methodism  one  of  the  happiest  omens  for 
the  future  of  the  American  churches. 

Jonathan  Edwards  is  reported  to  have  said  that 
nobody  had  answered  his  famous  Inquiry.  Shoukl 
he  return  to  earth,  he  would  find  that  formal  an- 
swers now  abound.  Yet  perhaps  the  most  unan- 
swerable response  to  his  greatest  book  is  the  extent 
to  which  his  own  earlier  feelings  of  repulsion  and 
disgust  are  shared  not  only  by  saints  like  Wesley, 
risk,  and  Whedon,  but  also  by  an  innumerable 
army  in  all  the  Calvinistic  bodies.  It  is  barely  pos- 
sible that  even  Jonathan  Edwards  might  now  re- 
gard his  early  disgust  at  Cal\anism  as  the  profound 
and  sacred  voice  of  a  conscience  that  could  only  be 
reduced  into  silence  by  his  greatest  efforts.  In 
the  present  struggle  to  repudiate  Calvinism,  he 
might  perhaps  see  the  proper  and  just  reaction  of 
the  reaenerate  conscience  and  heart  of  our  times 
against  his  dogmas. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  repudiation  of  Calvinism 
is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  and  widespread 
movements  of  our  time.  All  must  conclude  that 
the  wide  diffusion  of  Methodism  has  had  much  to 
do  with  this  changed  temper  of  the  times.  So  far 
as  this  movement  involves  an  especial  repudiation 
of  Edwardean  theology,  that  result  is  mainly  due 
to  Fisk,  Whedon,  Bledsoe,  and  their  helpers. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Dr.  Fisk  would  regard 
his  large  influence,  direct  and  indirect,  in  promot- 
ino-  this  chanee  of  sentiment,  as  one  of  his  chief 
earthlv  honors. 


286  WILBUR  FISK. 

In  the  main,  the  causes  which  enlisted  Dr. 
risk's  interest,  in  church  and  state,  are  the  causes 
which  have  made  signal  advances  in  the  world 
since  his  death,  and  are  destined  to  a  universal 
triumph  over  sin,  wrong,  and  error. 


INDEX. 


Academy,  Cazenovia,  139,  148. 

Academy,  Kent's  Hill,  139,  1-18. 

Academy,  Militarj',  110. 

Academy,  New  Blarket,  G8,  72 ;  first 
subscription  to  same,  73. 

Academy,  Wesleyan,  18  ;  Dr.  Fisk  as 
principal,  76 ;  course  of  study,  81. 

Anti-Masonic  excitement,  229. 

Arnold,  Mattliew,  ou  Methodists,  22  ; 
mistakes  of,  27,  35. 

Asbury,  Bishop,  sends  Jesse  Lee  to 
New  England,  May  28,  1789,  1 ;  his 
relation  to  the  work  in  New  Eng- 
land, 3  ;  defect  in  his  leadership, 
11. 

Baker,  Bishop,  103. 
Bangs,  Rev.  Kathan,  185,  253. 
Bartlett,  Rev.  Horace,  2G0. 
Beecher,  Lyman,  extract  from  auto- 
biography of,  ISO. 
Birney,  James  G.,  216. 
Boardm.an,  8. 
Boston  University,  18. 
Brewer,  Calvin,  72. 
-Brodhead,  John,  68. 

Case,  Rev.  W..  223 

Chase,  Daniel  H.,  151. 

"  Christian   Advocate  "   at    first  not 

favorable    to    temperance    reform, 

185. 
Clarke,  General,  224. 
Coke,  Thomas,  11,  19. 
Conference,    general    legislation    on 

temperance  in  1839, 193. 
Controversy,  Calvinistic,  112,  120. 
Cox,  Melville  B.,  222. 
Cushiug,  Rev.  Stephen,  100. 

Disosw.ay,  G.  P.,  225. 

Drew,  D.aniel,  171. 

Dunn,  N.,  70,  106. 

Dunn,  Nathanael,  Jr.,  76,  80. 

Dur'oin,  J.  P.,  119. 


Edwards,  Jonathan,  the  theology  of, 
in  the  light  of  Fisk's  life,  279-286. 

Fields,  James  T.,  on  Maffltt'e  preach- 
ing, 98. 

Fisk,  Hannah,  13,  20. 

Fisk,  Isaiah,  21. 

Fisk,  Wilbur,  first  contact  of,  with 
Methodism,  11;  birth  of,  13;  an- 
cestry and  home  training,  13  ;  at- 
tends Peacham  Academy,  13 ;  at 
University  of  Vermont,  13 ;  in 
Browu  University,  11;  studies  law, 
15 ;  private  tutor  near  Baltimore, 
15 ;  sudden  illness  of,  15 ;  renewal 
of  his  religious  life,  15 ;  his  motives 
for  entering  the  Methodist  ministry, 

15  ;  is  licensed  to  preach,  and  joins 
the  New   England  Conference,  15, 

16  ;  on  the  spread  of  Methodism  in 
New  England,  10 ;  on  Unitarianism 
and  Universalism,  31 ;  on  Crafts- 
bury  Circuit  in  1818,  40  ;  in  Charles- 
town  in  1819,  41  ;  his  rules  for  use 
of  time,  42  ;  his  success,  43  :  camp- 
meeting  at  Easthara  in  1819,  44 ; 
peculiar  religious  experience  there, 
44 ;  Horton's  account,  40  ;  change 
in  his  religious  life,  48  ;  his  theolog- 
ical views  changed,  51  ;  his  success 
in  Charlestowii,  51 ;  intercourse 
with  Isaac  Rich,  55  ;  illness,  57 ; 
impaired  health,  57;  his  marriage; 
58  ;  his  wedded  life,  58 ;  his  gen- 
erous conduct  to  wife,  .59  ;  kindness 
to  Mrs.  Fisk  after  his  death,  02 ; 
his  mother's  scruples,  04  ;  his 
answer,  04 ;  declines  to  aid  New 
Market  Academy,  72  ;  elected  Prin- 
cipal of  Wesleyan  Academy,  75; 
wide  range  of  his  duties,  76 ;  his 
inaugural  speech,  70 ;  manifold 
duties,  81 ;  school  govei'nment  un- 
der, S3  ;  the  social  interview,  85-87  ; 

■  bo.ar.Jinj;  house,  87  ;  obtains  further 


288 


INDEX. 


subscriptions  to  tlie  academy,  89 ; 
his  letter  to  "  Ziou's  Herald,"  90  ; 
religious  life  at  Wesleyan  Academy 
under  Wilbur  Fisk,  95  ;  first  revival 
in  the  school,  95;  his  letter  to 
"  Ziou's  Herald  "  on  the  first  revival, 
98 ;  Ills  tlieological  class,  102 ;  his 
views  on  farming,  106 ;  elected 
President  of  Wesleyan  University, 
140 ;  his  letter  of  acceptance,  141 ; 
his  inaugural  address,  142-14G  ;  his 
relations  with  the  faculty,  153  ;  his 
relations  with  the  students,  155 ; 
strength  of  his  college  government, 
158 ;  certain  college  organizations 
approved  and  disapproved,  158  ;  his 
patience  with  perverse  students, 
159  ;  his  decision  regarding  estab- 
lisiiUig  schools  of  law,  etc.,  100 ; 
his  financial  administration  of  the 
University,  167  ;  his  anxiety  in  re- 
gard to  reUgious  welfare  of  Univer- 
sity, 175 ;  his  account  of  first  revival 
in  University,  176;  his  regard  for 
modern  languages,  179  ;  his  attitude 
regarding  temperance,  182 ;  his 
preaching  and  lecturing  on  temper- 
ance, 1S4 ;  his  address  on  subject  of 
temperance,  1832,  180 ;  his  letter  to 
'•  Zion'sHerald,"  195 ;  his  connection 
with  the  slavery  controversy,  201  ; 
aids  in  forming  colonization  socie- 
ties, 213  ;  his  address  upon  coloni- 
zation, July  4,  1835,  213;  predicts  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  215 ;  his 
letter  to  James  G.  Birney,  216  ;  re- 
signs his  seat  in  General  Conference, 
219  ;  offers  his  services  to  the  Libe- 
rian  Mission,  222 ;  his  interest  in 
missions  among  the  Indians,  223 ; 
voyage  to  Europe,  239  ;  his  views  on 
the  Roman  Clnircii,  244;  his  ap- 
pearance before  British  Conference, 
247 ;  writes  a  memorial  to  British 
Conference,  248  ;  returns  to  Ameri- 
ca, 252  ;  appeals  to  the  Connecticut 
Legislature,  253;  his  last  appear- 
ance at  tlie  New  England  Confer- 
ence, 254  ;  his  dispute  with  Sunder- 
land, 255 ;  )iis  last  appearance  at 
commencement,  256 ;  his  last  sick- 
ness, 257  ;  his  wishes  regarding 
the  University,  2G5 ;  receives  a 
C.)mmittee  of  Methodist  Missionary 
Society  in  New  York,  268 ;  final 
lessons  of  his  life,  276. 
Free  moral  agency,  Wilbur  Fisk's 
argument  upon,  125,  130. 

Holdich,  Rev.  Joseph,  52, 56, 149, 150, 

178,  226,  247. 
Hubbard,  Oliver  P.,  151. 


Huber,  J.  F.,  152. 

Itinerant  preachers  in  New  England, 
tJie  first,  1,  2,  IS ;  success  in  their 
mission,  2-12 ;  their  doctrine,  5 ; 
strength  of,  in  1888,  20. 

Jarvis,  Rev.  Dr.,  271. 
Johnston,  Prof.  John,  150. 

Knox,  iiOren  L.,  151. 

Lane,  Prof.  H.  B.,  240. 

Lee,  Daniel,  226. 

Lee,  Jason,  224. 

Lee,  Jesse,  mission  of,  to  New  Eng- 
land, 19  ;  organizes  the  first  church 
in  1789,  2  ;  his  first  assistants,  Jacob 
Brush,  George  Roberts,  and  Daniel 
Smith  arrive  in  February,  1790,  2 ; 
his  coutioversial  methods,  7. 

Library  and  pliilosophical  apparatus 
ui  Wesleyan  University,  167. 

Lindsay,  John,  74,  164,  201;  incor- 
poration act  of,  February  1,  1814. 

Luckey,  Rev.  Dr.,  218. 

Maffit,  Rev.  John  Newland,  95. 

Magoun,  William,  8S,  151. 

Mather,  H.  W.,  151. 

Merrill,  Abram  D.,  196. 

Merrill,  Jolin  W.,  103,  163. 

Merrill,  Joseph  A.,  72. 

Merritt,  Timothy,  228. 

Messer,  Asa,  14. 

Metcalf,  David,  113. 

Methodism  in  New  England,  begin- 
ning of,  17  ;  its  rapid  spread,  17  ; 
its  reasonableness,  34  ;  could  alone 
oppose  C  ilvinism,  35. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the,  25  ; 
its  union  with  tlie  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  26  ;  articles  of  reli- 
gion of,  27  ;  amount  of  funds  held 
by  it  for  education  in  1887,  174; 
division  in,  concerning  slavery,  1844, 
220. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
the,  220. 

Natural  and  moral  ability,  131. 

New  Haven  Circuit,  the,  2. 

New  England,  religious  condition  of,  8. 

Olin,  Dr.,  2.53. 

Otheman,  Bartholomew,  201. 

Partridge,  Capt.  Alden,  140. 
Patten,  Dana,  163. 
Peck,  Rev.  George,  230. 
Perkins,  Jared,  196. 
Pilmoor,  8. 


INDEX. 


289 


Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the,  16, 

18,  19,  22,  25. 
Protestant  Methodist  Episc.  Church, 

the,  26 ;  its  Calvinism,  35. 

Ramsdell,  Hezekiah  S.,  201. 
Regeneration,  as  stated  by  Dr.  Fisk, 

132. 
Report  to  committee  on  education, 

138. 
Rice,  William  M.,  151. 
Rich,  Isaac,  171 ;  his  gifts  to  Wesleyan 

University,  173. 
Ruter,   Martin,  made  principal,   69 ; 

his  dreams,  70 ;  resigns,  71. 

Sanborn,  Jacob,  201. 

Scott,  Orange,  219. 

Seminaries  in  New  England,  Meth- 
odist, 17. 

Sliepherd,  Cyrus,  226. 

Sherman,  David,  102. 

Slavery  :  appeal  to  New  England  and 
New  Hampshire  Conferences,  1834, 
196. 

Smith,  Augustus  W.,  149,  252. 

Smith,  Rev.  John  M.,  150. 

Stevens,  Abel,  on  our  articles  of  reli- 
gion, 3,  27,  226. 

Btorrs,  Rev.  George,  194. 

Sunderland,  La  Roy,  196. 

Taylor,  Edward  T.,  201. 


Temperance  reform  in  New  England, 

181. 
Theology,  deficiencies  in  Wesley,  36; 

the  Greek,  36. 

Universalism  :   two  sermons  thereon 

by  Dr.  Pisk,  HI. 
Tillinghast,  Caroline,  83. 
True,  Rev.  Charles  K.,  178. 

Walker,  William,  224. 

Wesleyan  University,  18;  purchase 
of  site  for,  140 ;  trustees,  first  meet- 
ing of,  140  ;  date  of  opening  of,  141 ; 
students  in,  first  classed  by  their 
college  year,  147  ;  requires  no  re- 
ligious test  for  students  or  officers, 
148 ;  names  of  its  first  faculty,  149  ; 
financial  difficulties  in  consequence 
of  panic  of  1836,  1G9. 

Wesley's,  Charles,  hymns,  9,  10. 

Wesley's,  John,  sermons,  5 ;  his  ec- 
clesiastical liberalism,  19. 

Whedon's,  Dr.,  "  Issue  between  Ro- 
manism and  Calvinism,"  149 ;  his 
account  of  Dr.  Fisk's  preacliing, 
232  ;  his  refutation  of  tlie  doctrines 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  280. 

White,  E.  H.,201. 

Wliitfield  in  New  England,  7,  8. 

Willitt,  William  M.,  151. 

Wilson,  Shipley  W.,  196. 

Woodward,  Charles,  M.  D.,  252. 


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ILLINOIS.     By  E.  G.  Mason. 
SOUTH  CAROLINA.     By  Edward  McCrady,  Jr. 
Other  vohivies  to  be  announced  hereafter.      With  Maps. 
Each  volume,  i6mo,  gilt  top,  $1.2^. 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   AND   COMPANY, 

4  Park  St.,  Boston;  ii  East  17TH  St.,  New  York. 


amencan  -Beligtou^s  leatierja;. 

A  Series  of  Biographies  of  Men  who  have  had  great 

influence  on   Religious  Thought  and 

Life  in  the  United  States. 


JONATHAN  EDWARDS.     By   Professor   A.  V.  G. 

Allen,  author  of  "  The  Continuity  of  Christian  Thought." 

WILBUR   FISK.     By  Professor  George   Prentice,  of 

Wesleyan  University. 

DR.  MUHLENBERG.    By  Rev.  William  Wilberforce 

Newton. 

FRANCIS  WAYLAND.     By   Professor  J.  O.   Mur- 
ray, of  Princeton. 
ARCHBISHOP    JOHN     HUGHES.     By   John   G. 

Shea,  LL.  D.,  author  of  "  The  Catholic  Authors  of  America,"  etc. 

CHARLES  HODGE.     By  President  Francis  L.  Pat- 
ton,  of  Princeton. 
THEODORE  PARKER.     By  John  Fiske,  author  of 

"  The  Idea  of  God,"  "  Outlines  of  Cosmic  Philosophy,"  etc. 

CHARLES  G.  FINNEY.    By  Professor  G.  Frederick 

Wright. 

This  Series  will  include  biographies  of  eminent  men 
who  represent  the  theology  and  methods  of  the  va- 
rious religious  denominations  of  America,  yet  the  ob- 
ject of  the  Series  does  not  contemplate  emphasizing 
personal  character  and  history  except  as  these  are  re- 
lated to  the  development  of  religious  thought  or  the 
quickening  of  religious  life.  The  Series  when  com- 
pleted will  not  only  depict  in  a  clear  and  memorable 
way  several  great  figures  in  American  religious  his- 
tory, but  will  indicate  the  leading  characteristics  of 
that  history,  the  progress  and  process  of  religious 
philosophy  in  America,  the  various  types  of  theology 
which  have  shaped  or  been  shaped  by  the  various 
churches,  and  the  relation  of  these  to  the  life  and 
thought  of  the  Nation. 


Other  volumes  to  be  announced  hereafter.     Each  volume,  ibmo,gilt 

top,li.25. 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   &   COMPANY, 

4  P.ARK  St.,  Boston;  ii  East  i/TH  St.,  New  Vork. 


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